Empowering Communities for Sustainable Natural Resource Use ...

Empowering Communities for Sustainable 

Natural Resource Use and Management 

The Albertine Rift Region 

Practical Interventions Manual 

Contributing authors 

Joel Buyinza, Teddy Namirimu and Priscilla Nyadoi 

Editor 

Professor Joseph Obua 

Uganda Wildlife Society and 

Buliisa District Local Government 

FOUNTAIN PUBLISHERS 

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Website: www.fountainpublishers.co.ug. 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS 

Joel Buyinza, Teddy Namirimu and Priscilla Nyadoi 

Editor 

Professor Joseph Obua 

Also Involved in the Production of this Manual 

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), National Fisheries Resources Research Institute 

(NaFIRRI), Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and 

National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI) 

Project Partners 

Buliisa District Local Government (Buliisa DLG), Ecosystems Alliance Uganda Country 

Program Partners (NAPE and AFIEGO), Community Based Civil Society Organisation 

Partners (Soft Power Education, Buliisa Initiative for Rural Development Organisation, 

Buliisa Catholic Women Association, Kakindo Orphans Care and Kalolo Fish Mongers 

and Fishermen Association and Tree Talk Foundation Uganda 

December 2012 

Copyright (C) 2012 Uganda Wildlife Society and 

Buliisa District Local Government 

Reproduction of this publication for educational or non-commercial purposes is 

authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the 

source is fully acknowledged. Publication for resale or other commercial purposes is 

prohibited. 

Citation: Joel Buyinza, Teddy Namirimu and Priscilla Nyadoi. 2012. Empowering 

Communities for Sustainable Natural Resource Use and Management, the Albertine Rift 

Region: Practical Interventions Manual. 

Disclaimer 

This manual has been prepared with the financial assistance of IUCN NL, Wetlands 

International and Both ENDS, partners in the Ecosystem Alliance. The views 

expressed, the information and material presented and the geographical and geopolitical 

designations used in this manual do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever 

on the part of IUCN NL, Wetlands International or Both ENDS or the institutions and 

organisations providing these three organisations with funds. 

ISBN 978-9970-25-255-8

Table of Contents 

Acknowledgement ....................................................................................... vi 

Rationale, Content and Structure of This Manual ..................................... vii 

Chapter One ................................................................................................1 

Introduction .......................................................................................................1 

Chapter Two ................................................................................................3 

Training and technological interventions for natural 

resource use and management among Buliisa communities .....................3 

Crop Farmers .....................................................................................................3 

Why UWS should work with crop farmers .................................................3 

Training and technologies to be promoted among crop farmers ..............3 

Why UWS shall work with pastoralists in Buliisa ......................................23 

Training and technologies to be promoted among 

pastoralists in Buliisa ......................................................................................23 

Fisher folk .........................................................................................................29 

Why UWS should work with fish folk in Buliisa .......................................29 


fisher folk in Buliisa ........................................................................................29 

Use of appropriate fishing methods and gear .............................................32 

Wildlife Resource Dependent Communities ...............................................38 

Why UWS will work with wildlife resource-dependent 

communities ....................................................................................................38 


wildlife resource-dependent communities .................................................39 

Chapter Three ...........................................................................................53 

Cross-cutting issues among resource users and managers ......................53 

Climate change ................................................................................................53 

What is climate change? .................................................................................53 

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest 

degradation (REDD) awareness in Buliisa .................................................56 

What is REDD? ................................................................................................56 

What Buliisa communities can do to participate 

iii

in National REDD Projects .............................................................................57 

How can communities in Buliisa benefit from 

the National REDD Projects? .........................................................................57 

Chapter Four .............................................................................................59 

Natural resource use and management conflict resolution ......................59 

Why target natural resource use and management 

conflicts in Buliisa? .........................................................................................59 

Conflict resolution within and among resource 

users (communities)........................................................................................59 

Pastoralists and Crop farmers .......................................................................59 

Conflict resolution among resource managers and users .........................60 

Bye-laws and MoUs among resource users and managers .......................61 

Resource use and management conflicts 

emerging with oil developments .................................................................62 

Why UWS will work with communities that are 

dependent on oil activities in Buliisa ............................................................62 

What knowledge do communities need for participation 

in and to benefit from oil related activities in Buliisa?...............................62 

Bye laws and MoUs for community participation in 

and benefit from oil activities ........................................................................64 

Major steps in the formulation of Environmental 

Impact Assessments (EIAs) ...........................................................................65 

Chapter Five .............................................................................................67 

Feeding lessons and experiences of ecosystems 

alliance in Buliisa to national policy formulation processes .....................67 

Goals and Mandates of Uganda Wildlife Society ......................................67 

Feeding lessons and research information from 

Buliisa into the national policy forum .........................................................67 

Dialogue I ........................................................................................................68 

Theme “Natural Resource Conservation in the 

Albertine Rift. What are the Policy Issues Now”? .....................................68 

Dialogue II .......................................................................................................70 

Theme: “Biodiversity Conservation in Uganda: What are 

the challenges and opportunities”? ..............................................................70

References .................................................................................................................. 73 

Appendices ................................................................................................................ 75 

Appendix 1: Community Based Problem Animal 

Control Self-assessment Form .......................................................................75 

Appendix 2: Useful Natural Resources Policy and 

Management Guidelines in Uganda .............................................................77 

v

Acknowledgement 

The entire interventions UWS is undertaking in Buliisa District, 

including the trainings and technologies, the research whose finding 

was a basis for this manual and Policy dialogues to be done to feed 

emerging lessons and experiences from the project into the national 

policy formulation processes has been done with financial support 

from the Royal Netherland Government through the Ecosystems 

Alliance (IUCN-NL, Wetlands International and BothEnds). The 

Society, Buliisa District Local Government and Ecosystems Alliance 

Uganda Country Programme Partners acknowledge with much 

appreciation the funding from Ecosystems Alliance. 

vi

Rationale, Content and Structure of 

this Manual 

This manual is aimed to be used as a checklist and highlight of 

practical interventions, including training and technologies that 

Uganda Wildlife Society and Buliisa District Local Government 

identified as necessary and would be implemented to build capacity 

of the local communities/natural resource user groups (crop farmers, 

pastoralists, fisher folks, wildlife resource dependent communities 

and communities involved in oil activities) for sustainable natural 

resource use and management in Buliisa District in particular but 

that may also be relevant for the entire Albertine Rift Region. 

Resolving natural resource use and management related conflicts 

is also key to realising sustainability. Therefore, a section of this 

manual covers natural resource use and management related conflicts 

and the conflict resolution strategies that will be applicable in intra 

and inter resource user groups and between natural resource user 

groups and the resource managers (including UWA, NFA, BMUs 

and Oil companies). 

Climate change is another challenge in contemporary natural 

resource management and is therefore discussed in a section of this 

manual. We highlight climate change, its mitigation and adaptation 

approaches including reducing emissions from deforestation and 

forest degradation (REDD) and how communities can participate 

in these. For REDD the manual highlights strategic issues and 

awareness raising. This manual also highlights issues emerging with 

oil industry developments that are crosscutting and have impacts 

on natural resources use and management in the Albertine Rift. 

Advocacy and dialogues are important strategies for eliciting 

synergies critical for resolving conflicts related to natural resource 

use and management, an intervention fundamental to attaining 

vii

sustainability. Thus, UWS policy-influencing dialogues, lessons and 

research information generated from consultations with the general 

public and community conservation initiatives is also covered in 

this manual. 

In preparation of this manual, we made use of important current 

natural resource management plans and policy documents (including 

the 5-year Buliisa District Development Plan (2012/13- 2016/17); 

Fish (Beach Management) Rules No. 35 2003; National Fisheries 

Policy (NFP) 2003; Statutory Instruments, 2003 No. 35; Community 

Conservation Policy (2004); NEMA Guidelines to Oil Companies; 

UWA Guidelines to Oil Companies) and other literature. 

viii

Chapter One 

Introduction 

Uganda’s Albertine Rift is home to a number of bird species, 

amphibians, reptiles, and mammals including critically endangered 

mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants. It ranks as one 

of Africa’s biodiversity hotspots. The region’s mountains and 

forests provide many crucial resources to local people, such as 

clean water, fish and firewood. As various studies have found, the 

dominant environmental issues in the Rift region are reconciling 

human needs for land, firewood, and other natural resources and 

maintaining the scale and quality of habitat required by the species 

in one of the most biodiversity rich areas in the world. 

In Buliisa District, unsustainable use and management of natural 

resources is attributed to low capacity for management, competition 

and weaknesses in enforcement or compliance to conservation and 

development policies. As a result, the people’s major economic 

activities and sources of livelihoods such as fishing on Lake Albert, 

livestock-grazing and crop farming have been affected negatively. 

The activities are directly dependent on natural ecosystems whose 

resilience is being overstretched by increasing levels of over – 

exploitation. Recent development of oil exploration activities have 

also exerted more pressure on natural resources due to inflows of 

people to the district, imposed restriction to access certain locations 

and heightened expectations of benefits from oil activities that has 

generated conflicts over access and control of resources close to 

oil deposits. 

Unsustainable use and management of natural resources in Buliisa 

is clearly evident. The situation has resulted from poor farming 

and fishing practices, restricted use and access to resources from 

1

2 Natural Resource Use and Management: The Albertine Rift Region 

protected areas and the lake, limited awareness of the need for 

and means to harness the natural resource potential, community 

participation in development decision making, incentives for 

compliance to natural resources and development policies and 

regulations and, poor information flow to inform and influence 

policy level planning. 

Uganda Wildlife Society, with financial support from Ecosystems 

Alliance (IUCN-NL, Both ENDS, and Wetlands International) aims 

to address the problems of unsustainable fishing practices, poor 

landuse and management, inaccessibility of resources due to oil 

activities, natural resource use and management conflicts in Buliisa, 

to help bring about sustainability in the natural resource use and 

management. The Society aims to do this by implementing practical 

interventions identified and needed to address the problem. The 

interventions include influencing policies, ordinances and bye-laws 

at the local level and empowering the communities and institutions 

with training and technologies for sustainable management and 

use of natural resources. This manual provides details on these 

interventions and is a guide that the local communities, leaders and 

any other stakeholder interested in sustainable management of 

natural resources in the district could use for natural resource use 

and management planning and practice decisions.

Chapter Two 

Training and technological interventions for 

natural resource use and management among 

Buliisa communities 

Crop Farmers 

Why UWS should work with crop farmers 

The needs assessment study revealed that among crop farmers, the 

major constraints to the optimisation of natural resource productivity 

include pests and wildlife, diseases (40.6%), climate change (22.3%), 

inappropriate management (11.4%) and land and soil fertility loss 

(11.4%). To address these constraints, interventions are required 

and this shall include training and adoption of technologies for 

increased environmental awareness and management including tree 

planting (58.3%), pests and disease control (20.0%), stabilisation 

of market for produce (8.0%) and access to resources in wildlife 

protected areas (2.3%). 

Training and technologies to be promoted among crop 

farmers 

Agroforestry 

Agroforestry is a collective name for land use systems and 

technologies where woody perennials (such as trees, shrubs, palms, 

bamboos) are deliberately used on the same land units as agricultural 

crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or 

temporal sequence. In a typical agroforestry system, the major 

different components include: 

• Trees/forests or shrubs. 

• Agricultural crops, pastures. 

• Animals (livestock, poultry). 

3


All the agroforestry components benefit from one another in 

form of shade, nutrients from litter and dung, fodder from trees 

and shrubs. This symbiotic existence makes maximum use of the 

available space. (Figure 1). Other components include bees and 

fish that normally occur in specialised systems. The concept of 

agroforestry is based on development of an interface between 

agriculture and forestry. It is a sustainable multiple-production 

system whose outputs can be adjusted to local needs. 

Figure 1: Benefi ts from different agroforestry components (Source: 

Noordwijk and Kurniatun, 2000). 

cut-and-carry 

browse 

Shade 

shrubs 

Litter 

Livestock and 

Pasture 

Tree nursery establishment and management of trees 

Because trees form a major component of any agroforestry system, 

this manual has been prepared so that farmers are first trained on 

how to raise and manage agroforestry tree species from a tree nursery 

before introducing them to the different agroforestry systems that 

can be applied in Buliisa District. 

Tree seeds may not easily germinate, grow or survive when planted 

directly in the gardens. To avoid this, seedlings first have to be raised 

in a tree nursery where recommended conditions for germination 

and growth are ensured until they are ready to be transplanted in 

the field. The purpose of a tree nursery is to raise seedlings of the

Training and Technological Interventions 5 

right size and in sufficient quantities that will be able to survive 

harsh field conditions. 

Factors to consider when choosing a site for a tree nursery 

• A nursery should be established in the area where you 

intend to plant the seedlings in order to minimise transport 

costs and damages. 

• The area should be accessible. 

• The nursery should be near a reliable source of water. 

• The soils should be well drained and fertile. 

• It should be established on a flat and slightly sloping land 

(well drained area). 

• The area should have wind breaks and permanent source 

of shade. 

• The area should be large enough to produce a good 

number of seedlings required for a planting programme 

and also allow for future expansion. 

Nursery operations 

Site selection and preparation 

Stumps, weeds and any unwanted vegetation should be removed to 

create suitable conditions for seed germination and proper growth 

of seedlings. Site preparation helps to remove vegetation that may 

be potential weeds. This can be achieved through burning, manual 

slashing, cultivating using a hand hoe or a plough. 

Soil preparation and mixing 

The soil is worked out using fingers to attain a proper texture, 

aeration and drainage. Sandy loam soils are recommended for 

nurseries. When establishing a nursery for pine, it is recommended 

that soils from pine plantations are mixed with the local soil. This 

is to provide mychorriza that is useful for nutrient uptake of the 

seedlings in the nursery bed.


Seed bed preparation 

In areas that are always dry like Buliisa, the seed bed should be sunk 

below the ground level so as to improve drainage, allow rain water 

to collect and preserve soil moisture. 

Pre-sowing treatments 

Usually seeds are treated to enhance germination prior to sowing. 

Depending on the type of seed; they may be boiled, soaked in water 

or scratched mechanically (scarified). 

Sowing 

The seed should be sowed on the surface of the bed and covered 

with thin soil which is about half the diameter of the seeds. The 

seed should be covered with soil which is spread out by hand or 

using a shovel. 

Shade construction 

A shade should be constructed to provide suitable amount of light, 

rain water and heat. The shade should be constructed sloping in 

the north-south gradient and running in the east – west direction. 

A farmer may use local materials like elephant grass or even plastic 

materials like polythene for shade construction. 

Watering 

Different species of seedlings require different quantities of water. 

Therefore, a farmer should water his/her nursery bed regularly 

with the right amount of water using a watering can that has a 

mesh. Watering should be done twice a day (i.e. in the morning and 

evening). Avoid too much watering because it may wash away the 

seeds and seedlings rooting. The watering can should have a mesh 

to ensure even distribution of water in the bed.

Pricking out 


After the seeds have germinated, seedlings should be removed 

from the seedbeds and transferred into containers (pots) which are 

transferred to a transplant bed. This helps to reduce competition 

among seedlings for basic growth requirements. Pricking out should 

be done in the evening hours. Make a hole in the soil that is filled 

in a pot to a depth that is big and deep enough to allow roots to be 

well placed without bending. Using a spoon and holding the leaves, 

pull out the seed from the seed bed. Place the seedling’s roots into 

the hole and fill the pot. Ensure that the seedling is upright and in 

a central position in the pot. 

Root pruning 

This is the cutting of roots that grow out of the pots and penetrate 

into the ground at the bottom of the container/pot. Root pruning 

is done using a sharp knife or wire root pruners. Root pruning 

enhances growth of root system within the container/pot which 

enables vigorous growth of the seedling when transplanted in the 

field. 

Hardening off 

This is the process of introducing the seedling to harsh conditions 

of the field. It is done prior to transplanting. It involves reducing 

the amount of water and shade from the seedlings while still in the 

bed. It is done gradually, for example if the seedlings were watered 

twice; you reduce it to once a day (approximately 50%). Seedlings 

transplanted in the field without being hardened off may suffer 

from transplantation shock and die from stress. 

Record keeping 

A tree farmer or nursery manager should maintain proper records 

to keep track of activities like time of sowing, germination rates, 

seedling growth rates, disease and pest incidences and any other 

records relevant for proper management. Record keeping helps in 

assessing productivity and cost effectiveness of the nursery.


Transplanting 

This is the last activity in nursery management. Seedlings that have 

matured and are ready for transplanting are transported to the field 

for planting. 

Key tools commonly used in tree nurseries 

• Shovel: is used for mixing soil in the nursery bed and when 

covering the seeds. 

• Watering can: is for watering the bed. 

• Spoons: are for pricking out seedlings. 

• Sieve: is used when preparing soil for potting. It helps the 

farmer to remove other particles that may impair proper 

growth of the seedlings e.g. stones. 

• Wheelbarrow: is used to transport plants and other 

materials at the nursery. 

• Buckets: are used for carrying soil for potting. 

• Trowel: is used for filling pots with soil. 

Soil mixing for potting 

Generally there is no standard ratio used for mixing soils. However 

the ratio used depends on the texture and nutrient content of the 

soil at the site. For soils that have high clay content, river or lake 

sand should be added. In most parts of Uganda a ratio of 1: 3 is 

recommended when mixing soil for potting. 

Characteristics of good soil for potting 

The soil should: 

• be light to enable easy root penetration of seedlings. 

• be cohesive to withstand pressure from drops of water 

during watering process. 

• have a good water retention capacity to ensure adequate 

moisture for the seedlings. 

• be fairly fertile to provide plant nutrients for seedlings.

Procedures involved in potting 


• Soil used for potting should be moistened by sprinkling 

water. 

• Using a trowel, scoop soil and gently tap the pot to the 

brim and hit the pot on the ground to a level where it 

prevents compaction. Compacted soil in the pots inhibits 

root growth and drainage. 

Tree establishment and management 

Proper timing of all activities involved in tree planting and 

management is an essential component of a successful tree growing 

program. Once you know the right time of implementing each of 

the activities, it becomes easier to budget and look for all resources 

needed in advance. 

When should one carry out the different plantation activities? 

The pattern of rainfall in an area determines the scheduling of most 

activities in tree growing or woodlot establishment. In most parts 

of Uganda, there are two seasons; March/April and September/ 

October. These seasons differ in duration of rains depending 

on the location. In some areas like western Uganda, September/ 

October is the longer rainy season, while in most other parts of 

the country the best rains are normally received in March/April. 

It is recommended that a farmer should plan to plant trees in the 

long rainy season and to do it in the early rains. This is to enable the 

seedlings take advantage of the large quantities of moisture in the 

soil and establish quickly. For example, if the plan is to plant trees 

during the September/October rains: 

• Site survey and tree species selection should be done in 

January. 

• Collect or buy seeds not later than 7 months before 

planting date.


• If you are buying seedlings from a nursery, make sure it is 

reputable to avoid poor quality seedlings. 

• By around May (usually as the first rains are ending), start 

mobilising labour for land clearing. This operation can run 

up to July to allow time for lining out and pitting in mid- 

August. 

Land preparation for tree planting 

This activity in tree growing or woodlot establishment aims at 

achieving high survival and rapid early growth of trees. The process 

involves removing competing vegetation by cultivation of the soil 

to enhance root development of the newly planted seedlings. 

Land preparation encompasses several separate activities which 

include among others: 

• Initial clearing (often combined with burning). 

• Lining out and pitting. 

• Protection from stray animals. 

• Weeding. 

• Thinning and pruning. 

Thinning regimes vary with the species that have been planted. 

However, it is advisable to carry out pruning and thinning at the 

same time to minimise silvicultural costs. 

Rationale for promoting agroforestry in Buliisa 

The aim of introducing agroforestry in Buliisa is to optimise 

production based on the interactions between the components 

(trees, crops and livestock) and physical environment. Agroforestry 

leads to higher sum total and a more diversified and /or sustainable 

production than from a monoculture of agriculture or forestry. 

Different agroforestry technologies have been developed to improve 

soil fertility and increase productivity. The following are some 

examples of agroforestry technologies that will be applicable in 

Buliisa District:

Improved fallow systems 


Human population increase has resulted in faster rotation cycles 

of crop cultivation and shorter fallow periods. In some instances, 

fallow time is too short to allow the soil to recover. Blocks of fastgrowing 

trees, particularly species that fix nitrogen in the soil ( such 

as Sesbania sesban), can help the soil recover as well as provide fuel, 

poles and fodder. Farmers can plant stump cuttings in the fields at 

the same time as the harvest of the last annual crops before the 

fallow period. The cuttings do not shade other crops until after 4-6 

months. Desirable characteristics of tree species for use in improved 

fallows include high nitrogen content in tissue which hastens soil 

rejuvenation because nitrogen is one of the most important nutrient 

in tropical soils. Fast biomass production such as litter from the tree, 

especially foliage, can add important nutrients to the soil. 

Home gardens 

Home gardens, mixed plantings of annual and tree crops around 

homes, are a common type of multistorey agroforestry system. 

Multistorey means that there are at least two layers of plants growing 

to different heights in the system. In home gardens, the lowest level 

often consists of vegetables or root crops; the second level includes 

fast-growing trees or crops such as bananas, spices, and cocoa; a third 

higher level may consist of large trees that provide fruits, timber and 

shade. Home gardens also provide pleasant shade. Trees grown in 

home gardens mainly for food should not be pruned regularly for 

fodder or fuel. Pruning can interfere with flowering and fruiting. 

Instead, families can collect fallen branches for fuel wood. Women 

make many of the decisions on how to tend the home garden and 

often choose the species to be grown. Attempts to improve the use 

of trees in home gardens should involve discussions with women 

and men to better understand how they use trees and what products 

should be optimised.


Scattered tree planting 

Scattered (randomised) planting technology was developed by 

National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI) and 

its partners to enable farmers plant proven tree species in midfield. 

Proven species are planted (scattered) in the field and grown 

together with crops or pastures. The trees improve soil fertility, 

provide ample shade and improve performance of the companion 

crops. This technology is good for crops that need some amount of 

shade, like bananas and coffee. Trees recommended for improved 

fallow technology include Grevillea Robusta (Kalivaliyo) Ficus mucuso 

(Mukunhu), Ficus natalensis (Mutuba), Albizia chinensis (Nnongo mpya), 

Gliricidia sepium (Girisidiya) and others. The trees can be planted in 

a garden of bananas or coffee or the trees can be planted ahead of 

the crops. Final spacing of trees should be less than 10 m. The trees 

should be thinned gradually until 10m x 10m density is achieved 

and pruned regularly to avoid excessive growth. 

Trees along boundaries 

This is a farming practice whereby trees are planted and grown 

along farm boundaries or contours within the farm and road sides. 

The practice enables the farmer to raise a wider range of trees than 

in the other technologies. Trees used in this technology need to be 

compatible with companion crops. Tree species recommended for 

boundary planting are dependent on farmer product interest and 

these could vary, for example, fuel wood, poles, timber, medicines 

and so on. Some of the tree species recommended for fuel wood, 

poles and timber are Casuarina equisettifolia (Kasalina), Grevillea Robusta 

(Kalivaliyo), Pinus oocarpa (Payini), Araucaria cunninghamii (Alukeriya), 

Markhamia lutea (Lusambya), Maesapsis eminii (Musizi). Among the 

medicinal trees NaFORRI is promoting Prunus africana (Ntasesa), 

Malinger aleifera (Horse-radish), Azadirachta indica (Neem) among others. 

The trees should be pruned regularly to avoid excessive growth. 

Boundary trees need to be planted initially at 5 m apart along 

the boundary line, contours or road sides. Trees can be gradually


thinned down to improve on stem characteristics such as girth. The 

final spacing after thinning may be below 10 m between trees. The 

thinned poles can be used as building poles at home or sold to fetch 

money for the family. The trees should be pruned regularly to avoid 

excessive growth. Pruning can be used for firewood at home or 

sold for income. Trees planted along boundaries are very helpful 

in reducing the speed of wind (wind breakers). By so doing, they 

minimise the devastating effects of strong winds. This technology 

has a potential to answer some of the global environmental concerns. 

It can be used to reduce the greenhouse/global warming effect 

which is threatening the existence of mankind. 

Crop farmers in Buliisa can grow different tree species, 

including fruit trees like Citrus sinensis (oranges), Persea Americana 

(Avocado) and Mangifera indica (Mangoes). The genus citrus 

comprises several species but the most important ones are 

(1) Citrus sinensis - Sweet orange e. g Western navel, Valencia, Kuno 

navel, (2) Citrus aurantium- Sour orange (3)- Citrus limon – Lemon and 

(4) Citrus reticulata – Tangerine. Most of these species were planted 

at Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), evaluated and 

later released to farmers. Most recent introductions were brought 

from Kenya in 2003, evaluated and planted for further evaluation. 

Climatic requirements for orange 

Extremely hot or extremely cold temperatures are damaging to oranges. 

Oranges require temperature ranges from 130 o C–380 o C. At high 

temperatures flowers and leaves drop. For good citrus production, 

trees require rainfall or irrigation throughout the year. Where dry 

seasons occur, planning for irrigation is required. Favourable rainfall 

ranges between 125 mm-500 mm but are grown in areas that receive 

as much as 1000-1500 mm of rainfall/annum. A dry, climate, (hot 

during day and cool at night) favours good color development.


Soil requirements 

Citrus trees grow in a wide variety of soils but they grow best in 

soils of medium texture and moderate depth, with good drainage 

and high fertility, and which are not high in soluble salts or alkaline. 

The best pH for citrus ranges between 5 and 6. In very acid soils, 

citrus roots do not grow well and nutrients are leached out or may 

be toxic. At a pH above 6, plants experience nutrient deficiency. 

The water table must be well below the surface at least by 5 feet. 

Propagation 

The best citrus commercial varieties do not reproduce true by seed; 

they must be propagated by budding or grafting. These commercial 

varieties are budded/ grafted onto seedlings of species known to 

give good results when used as rootstock. It is highly important to 

use rootstocks known to grow and are adapted to soil conditions 

on which the trees are to be grown. Budding is by far the most 

commonly used method of propagation. Grafting apparently gives 

just as good results, but it is slower and requires more scions than 

budding. 

Raising citrus rootstock 

Seed for rootstock is obtained from fresh fruit, which is picked 

from the tree. Select mature fruits from healthy plants. The easiest 

way to extract seed is to cut shallowly through the rind (peel) all 

the way around the fruit and then twist the fruit a part. The pulp is 

then squeezed through a sieve and the seeds washed. Seeds should 

be sown immediately after washing. 

Sowing/ planting seed 

Seeds are planted in containers or more commonly in seedbeds. 

The soil should be at least 30 cm deep, light in texture, uniform 

and well drained. 

If only a few seedlings are to be grown, the seeds may be planted in 

boxes of convenient size. The boxes should be put in a warm, partly


shaded place, and the soil should be kept moist but not wet. If large 

numbers of seedlings are to be grown, seedbeds must be prepared. 

It is desirable to use virgin soil which has not been used for growing 

citrus seedlings or vegetables for several years. 

Citrus seeds are planted 3 – 5 cm deep and covered with sand or 

other porous materials, which will not compact. The seed if not 

freshly extracted from the fruits is often placed in moderately warm 

water and allowed to soak for 24 hours or more before planting to 

hasten the process of germination and to prevent the problem of 

goose neck in the seedlings. Depending on the moisture content 

of the soil and the temperatures, seed will germinate in three to 

four weeks. 

Care in seedbed 

Before and after seedling emergence, the soil should be given 

frequent light watering to keep the surface moist. When the plants 

are 10 cm high, the frequency of watering should be decreased but 

the quantity increased. Keep seedlings weed free in order to promote 

quick growth and vigour. 

Potting and pricking 

Seedlings are ready for pricking when they have two pairs of leaves 

and a bud. 

Grafting/Budding 

Citrus rootstocks are ready for grafting six to seven months from 

pricking. If budding is to be done, seedlings are budded 9–10 

months from pricking. 

T-budding is a technique commonly used in propagating most 

citrus seedlings. Whip or splice grafting are also used.


Field establishment and management of citrus 

Dig holes 60 cm deep x 60 cm wide. When digging, separate the 

topsoil from sub soil. Mix 1 tin full of well decomposed manure with 

top soil and put back into the hole to cover the first 30 cm. Remove 

polythene sleeves before planting. Transplant the seedlings at the 

onset of rains or during the rainy season. Make a basin around the 

plants for harvesting water. Mulch around each plant and provide 

a cage to avoid damage by animals. Citrus are spaced 6 m x 6 m 

giving 126 plants per acre. 

Management of oranges in the field 

Remove grafting tape a month after transplanting. If the tape is not 

removed it will cut into the plant tissues, retard growth and eventually 

kill the scion part of the plant. Remove shoots which grow below 

the graft union. These shoot, if not removed, will retard growth or 

kill the scion part of the grafted plant. Plants will also take a long 

time to produce fruits, as the shoots below the graft union will take 

up most nutrients. 

Weeding 

Farmers are advised to keep their fruit fields weed free. Ring weed 

around the trees and slash the rest of the orchard. At the young 

stage of the crop, intercrop with low growing crops like beans and 

ground nuts. The intercrop should be planted away from the basin 

that is around the plant. Keep the plants and the intercrop weed free. 

Pruning 

It consists of the removal of dead, dry wood and water sprouts. All 

branches that grow low on the trunk should be removed. Shoots 

that grow below the graft / bad union should be removed. To have 

a tree which is easy to manage and to encourage lateral growth the 

apex should be decapitated at 50 cm from the ground.

Maintain a basin around the plant 


This basin is important especially in the areas that experience 

prolonged periods of harsh dry weather. Its purpose is to harvest 

and hold water for the plant so that plants have enough water for 

production. 

Irrigation 

Many farmers in Uganda cannot afford irrigation equipment so 

they should use cultural practices such as mulching, use of organic 

manure and maintaining a basin around each plant to conserve water. 

There are irrigation methods that are relatively cheap. An example is 

filling jerrycans with water and perforating them at the bottom and 

in the lids. A jerrycan is placed near the stem of each plant. Water 

then drips continuously into the soil around the plant. When the 

water is finished from jerrycan, it should be refilled. 

Harvesting and yield 

Citrus fruit stays on the tree from six to nine months depending on 

the variety and climatic conditions. Maturity of citrus is indicated by 

color changes in the rind (peel). However, in the low land tropics, 

fruits may remain green at maturity. Rind color changes from 

dark green to light green. Though lack of colouring decreases the 

attractiveness of the fruit, flavour is unaffected. Orange fruits are 

harvested by clipping or pulling fruits from the tree. Harvested fruits 

should be protected from sun and rain. Damaged fruits should be 

discarded or used immediately. Avoid picking citrus shortly after 

rains, wait until the fruit is dry because this prevents moulds. The 

yield of oranges ranges from seven to fifteen tons/ha, depending 

on variety, climate and soil management and age of the tree.


Avocado (Persea americana) production: planting and 

management 

• Prepare avocado seeds from fresh fruits and not those that 

have fallen and are rotting on the ground. 

• Plant grafted or budded seedlings since they have a shorter 

gestation period. 

• Dig holes 2ft x 2ft (0.6 x 0.6 m) depth and width then add 

0.5 kg of SSP fertiliser to the top soil from each hole. Mix 

the fertiliser thoroughly with the soil and use it to cover 

the young seedling. 

• Space avocado plants at 9 m x 9 m. 

• When planting make sure the soil block on the seedling is 

at ground level. 

• Leave a small depression around the plant for water 

collection. 

• Phosphorus (P) helps roots to grow strong and healthy. 

Healthy roots mine lower soil layers for nutrients and are 

not attacked by pests easily. 

• Remove the polythene at the point of grafting a month 

after planting. 

• Recommended avocado cultivars for the local and export 

markets should be grown such as Hass, Fuerte, Drsom 1, 

Drsom 2, Walu, Avilla and Semil 43. 

Yields 

Avocado yields vary according to the variety and management. 

Cultivars such as Walu yield 2 to 4 tons/acre when spaced at 9 m x 

9 m under rain fed conditions and medium soil fertility. 

Pest management and control in tree crops 

Trees and crops are prone to both pests and diseases and farmers 

should be in a position to know that their crop has been attacked by 

either disease or pest. When you identify any pest or disease, usually 

seen from change in leaf colour and stunted growth, please report 

to the extension officer or the District Agriculture Officer (DAO).


Among common diseases in oranges is dumping off, the most serious 

disease in fruit trees, particularly oranges and is caused by wet soil, 

dense shading, humidity and overcrowding. These conditions should 

be avoided to prevent the disease. The other measure is to thin the 

trees. Thinning is particularly important in preventing disease attack 

at the seedling stage. If seedlings appear congested, thin them so 

as to produce sturdy and vigorous plants. Thinning reduces chances 

of disease outbreak. Common pests in oranges include aphids, 

leaf miners and orange dogs. Pests in oranges can be managed by 

pruning, uprooting and burning the infected trees. 

For avocado, the most common disease is Anthracnose (Glomerella 

cingulata) which attacks leaves, branches, flowers and fruits of 

susceptible cultivars. Anthracnose can be controlled through cultural 

methods such as pruning and destruction of infected parts. The 

other avocado disease is Powdery mildew (Oidium persae). This 

attacks leaves and flowers and causes them to abort prematurely. 

This disease is controlled by spraying with Topsin, Antracol and 

Sulphur dust. Scab (Sphaceloma persea) is another disease that affects 

avocado and causes rotting of ripened fruits. This disease can be 

controlled using cultural methods mentioned before and by spraying 

with fungicides such as Kocide or Cobox. The infected rotten 

fruits should be removed and buried and or sprayed with contact 

insecticides. 

Soil and water conservation technologies 

Soil conservation techniques 

Mulching 

Mulching is a farming practice where the soil is covered with plant 

or non- plant materials (Figure 2). This could be straw, cut herbage, 

leaves, stems of maize or millet or fresh growing cover crops such 

as Lab lab. Mulching is a good practice because it prevents loss of 

moisture from the soil, improves soil fertility by adding organic 

matter to the soil, protects soil from direct impact of rain drops,


protects soil against wind and water erosion, suppresses weeds, 

maintains good temperatures for germination, crop growth and 

life of soil organisms. 

Manuring 

Use of organic manure such as kraal manure, compost and green 

manure restores and maintains soil fertility. These are used without 

undergoing any chemical treatment. 

Intercropping 

Strip cropping is similar to row planting but instead of a single row 

of maize or beans, strip of two or more rows are planted (Figure 3). 

Figure 2: Mulched banana plantation. Source: KARI, 2001. 

Figure 3: Intercropped garden. Source: KARI, 2001


Crop rotation 

Crop rotation is the growing of crops in a sequence on the same 

piece of land. This is done to improve soil fertility and reduce pests 

and diseases. Growing of the same crop on the same plot each 

season leads to crops taking away all the nutrients thus making the 

soil infertile. Plant crops that have different demands on the soil 

every successive season. This will depend on your needs for food 

and income. 

Trenching 

Rain water is diverted using channels from various sources such 

run-off to earth dams or infiltration ditches. This water is mainly 

used for irrigation or for livestock. 

Water conservation techniques 

Water is very important for movement of plant nutrients from the 

soil to the plant. It is also very important in the making of plant 

food. Therefore soils must have enough nutrients and water to make 

them productive. Excessive sun and heat dry up the soil, so there is 

a need to conserve or replenish lost water. Water can be conserved 

by mulching, planting good crop cover, practicing agroforestry and 

by applying organic manure. Water can also be harvested to irrigate 

land during the dry season. 

Rain water harvesting from tree trunks 

Rain water is harvested from big tree trunks using banana fibre tied 

around the tree trunk and directed to a large clay pot. This water 

can be put to domestic use or for irrigating crops. 

Roof tops 

Rain water harvested from roof tops can be stored in plastic tanks, 

clay pots, drums, corrugated iron tanks, concrete / brick tanks,


(underground and above ground). This water is mainly put to 

domestic use but could be used for irrigating crops. 

Figure 4: Rain water harvesting from tree trunks. Source: KARI, 2001 

Figure 5: Rain water harvesting from roof tops. Source: KARI, 2001.


Pastoralists 

Why UWS shall work with pastoralists in Buliisa 

The needs assessment revealed that among pastoralists (livestock 

keepers), the major constraints to natural resources productivity are 

pests (including wildlife attack) diseases (33.3%), climate change 

(28.6%) and inappropriate management (28.6%). To address these 

constraints, interventions required include training and adoption 

of technologies for increased environmental awareness and 

management including tree planting (47.6%), access to resources in 

wildlife protected areas (9.5%), stabilisation of market for dairy and 

livestock products (4.8%) and pests and disease control (19.0%). 

The Buliisa District Veterinary Officer acknowledges that 7 out 

of 10 calves die in Buliisa due to diseases, particularly East Coast 

Fever (ECF). The local people consequently selected training and 

technologies to be promoted and applied in interventions to address 

livestock management constraints. 

Training and technologies to be promoted among pastoralists 

in Buliisa 

Cattle keepers in Buliisa District find treasure and prestige in keeping 

large numbers of livestock which are left to free range hence 

compromising productivity and quality. Free ranging livestock is one 

of the sources of resource use and management conflicts between 

communities (fisher folk, crop farmers) and pastoralists in Buliisa. 

The training and technologies that UWS intends to promote among 

the pastoralists are aimed at changing and improving attitudes of 

the pastoral communities, their stocking density (keeping only the 

productive stock) and pasture management practices. Appropriate 

stock management technologies such as zero grazing, rotational 

grazing, strip grazing, improved pasture management, milk hygiene,


silvo-pastoral systems (cattle and trees), and pest and disease control 

will be promoted among the communities. 

Zero grazing 

Under zero grazing (also known as stall feeding), cattle do not graze 

freely but are confined and fed in a shed or yard. The system is highly 

productive, but rather labour intensive, since the forage must be 

cut in the fields and brought to the cattle. The main feed used on 

small holdings for zero grazing is Napier grass and to some extent 

green maize. Sweet potato vines, banana stems and garden waste 

are also fed to cattle. Some 40-60 kg of forage is needed per day 

per cow. In addition, a mineral lick should be provided. The main 

advantage of zero grazing over pasture grazing is that production 

per land unit is 3-4 times higher. About 0.6 ha of good grazing will 

support one cow while under Napier grass in zero grazing system 

the same land can support 3-4 cows. 

Rotational grazing 

Under this grazing method, the farm is divided into 4 -6 portions 

and the cattle are moved from one field to another in a rotation, 

which allows the field time to recover. The resting time between 

fields should be at least 4 weeks. The maximum grazing time for each 

field is about 1 week, in order to avoid worm infestation. Tens of 

heads of cattle need approximately 1ha of good grazing per week. 

Strip grazing 

The animals are confined to a small area that is sufficient for one 

day’s grazing and the fence moved each day. The results are more 

uniform grazing and little wastage of grass. Strip grazing requires 

more labour and more watering points, but experiments have shown 

an increase of 15-20% in efficiency of pasture use. Useful pasture 

includes Rhodes grass. Rhodes is a creeping perennial that establishes 

quickly. Other varieties are Mbarara (eyojo, emburara) and Masaba ( 

names?), Guinea and Setaria grass and useful pasture legumes like 

esmodium, clover and lucerne.

Milking hygiene 


The aim of having high standards of hygiene in milk production is 

to supply milk in clean and wholesome condition that is free from 

objectionable odours and flavours to prevent spread of diseases. 

The following are the main hygiene requirements to ensure clean 

milk production: 

• Milking shed should be cleaned after each milking. 

• Washing hands with soap and warm water before milking. 

• Wash the udder before milking with a clean cloth and 

water. 

• After milking, the milk should be removed to a separate 

room, filtered and stored in a cool place. 

• Washing milking utensils with clean water and soap. 

• Cows with mastitis should be milked last to prevent the 

spread of infection to other cows. Mastitis can cause a 

reduction in milk yield by at least 10%. After milking, use 

a teat dip containing a suitable antiseptic. 

Obtaining good milk yields 

• For high yields, it is good to practice good milking 

techniques. The following are some rules to be applied in 

milking: 

• Milk at regular intervals, at the same time in the morning 

and evening. 

• Maintain peace and a quiet environment during milking 

time. 

• Milk quickly and evenly. 

• Empty the udder thoroughly at each milking. 

• A conditioned reflex relaxes certain muscles and permits 

milk let-down. A regular routine should be followed as the 

rattle of the milk bucket, supplying feed, waiting in the 

yard or washing the udder may all set off the conditioned reflex.


Livestock under different grazing regimes have varying lactation 

periods and milk yields (Table 1). Buliisa livestock grazing system is 

extensive and one would expect the cattle to produce 2.7 liters per 

day for a period of 200 days. However, the current situation indicates 

that most cattle in Buliisa produce 1litre per day, an indicator that 

there is a need for urgent interventions to increase milk production. 

The upcoming developments by the Diary Development Authority 

(DDA) in the district to collect 10,000 litres of milk per day from 

Buliisa justifies the timely interventions by UWS Ecosystems 

Alliance project for increased milk yields in Buliisa. The cattle 

keepers in Buliisa not only need to improve their current grazing 

regime, but also adopt a semi-intensive grazing system given the 

developments in Buliisa District. 

Table 1: Milk yield under different grazing systems 

Grazing regime 

* Extensive grazing regime 

(cattle move very long 

distances and feed on grass 

only with no water for some 

days) 

Semi intensive grazing regime 

(In addition to moving to 

graze, animals also feed on 

other feeds (like banana 

peelings when they return to 

the kraal) 

Zero grazing regime (animals 

are confined in an enclosed 

area) 

Lactation 

period (days) 

Total 

milk yield 

(litres) 

Average milk 

yield (litres/ day) 

200 545 2.7 

270 2,250 8.3L 

305 3,800 12.5L 

* This is the current livestock grazing system in Buliisa District

Improved pasture management 


The objective of pasture management is to obtain maximum forage, 

while sustaining the vegetation and without causing soil erosion. 

Grazing is best achieved using a planned rotation, the benefits of 

which are: 

• Forage plants are only moderately cropped and given a 

chance to gain vigour by storing food for growth. 

• Pasture are rested in rotation thus enabling farmers to 

reseed. 

• Less palatable plants are also eaten when animals are not 

allowed to roam freely over large areas. 

• Good vegetation cover protects water catchment areas. 

• Damage to vegetation caused by trampling and trekking 

long distances is reduced. 

Feeding cattle on fodder 

Fodder is conserved in times of abundance in order that stocking 

rates can be greatly improved. Types of fodder that can be produced 

include hay, maize silage, Napier grass, sorghum, sweet potato vines, 

and shrubs such as calliandra and trees like Ficus natalensis. 

Silvopastoral-agroforestry system 

Silvopastoral agroforestry is a system where trees and livestock 

are combined in spatial arrangement. Farm systems that combine 

tree plantations with livestock that graze beneath them are found 

generally in drier areas, where natural grasslands and farm sizes 

are larger. In such systems, farmers graze sheep or cattle on forage 

grasses or in stands of trees. In some areas, which tend to have 

smaller land holdings, alley cropping and other “cut and carry” 

methods for procuring fodder are more important. Advantages of 

integrating tree growing with livestock production include: 

• Increasing the production of meat protein without 

sacrificing large tracts of agricultural land.


• Reducing surface soil erosion by preventing open grazing 

and reducing dependence on grasses. 

• Using animal manure to fertilise the soils and intercrops, 

thereby reducing reliance on inorganic fertiliser. 

• Providing additional income through sale of livestock. 

Desirable characteristics of pasture species 

• High protein and nutrient content: for improvement of 

livestock nutrition. 

• Palatable: livestock are selective about what fodder they 

will eat. 

• Free of toxic substances: some fodder species contain toxic 

substances that can be consumed only in small amounts. 

Leucaena spp, for example, contain mimosine which, in 

large doses, is harmful to animals. It must, therefore, be 

used in combination with other fodder sources. 

• Sprout well: ability to recover rapidly after pruning. 

Livestock pest and diseases control measures 

Environmental control 

The housing, feeding and watering equipment should be cleaned 

regularly to prevent them from being a source of disease. 

Movement control 

A farmer’s animals should be isolated as far as possible from contact 

with other animals as these may be a source of disease. 

Control of host insects 

Where diseases are carried by insects such as ticks and flies, then 

a program to kill such insects is necessary. They can be killed by 

spraying or physically killing them.


Control by vaccination 

There are some diseases which can only be adequately controlled 

by vaccination. 

Veterinary attention 

Sick animals should be isolated as soon as possible from the rest 

of the animals and should receive urgent veterinary attention. This 

is because many diseases can be cured if treated at the early stages. 

Fisher folk 

Why UWS should work with fish folk in Buliisa 

According to the fisher folk, the major constraints to natural 

resource productivity are inappropriate management (64.2%), pests 

(including wildlife attack) and diseases (15.16%) and climate change 

(9.4%). To address these constraints the fisher folk recommend 

interventions such as training and adoption of technologies such as 

tree planting (45.3%), access to resources in wildlife protected areas 

(17.0%), stabilisation of market for fish catch (11.3%) and pests 

and disease control (11.3%). The following interventions shall be 

promoted among the fisher folk. 

Training and technologies to be promoted among fisher 

folk in Buliisa 

The fisheries sector, unlike agriculture, is based on hunting mobile 

prey (fish) by thousands of fishermen who compete for the same 

resources. To sustainably manage these resources requires many rules 

and regulations to be obeyed by fishermen and traders. To obtain 

greater compliance to fisheries rules requires closer involvement 

of fisheries stakeholders in managing the resources upon which 

their livelihoods depend. The Government of Uganda adopted a 

new management approach called co-management in which local 

people are equal partners in managing fisheries. This is supported


by a new law, the Fish (Beach Management) Rules No. 35 2003, 

which delegates legal power to local people for fisheries planning 

and management. The delegation of legal power is made by 

fisheries stakeholders joining together to form legally empowered 

groups known as Beach Management Units (BMUs). The BMUs 

are mandated with monitoring compliance to set fishing standards/ 

practices and ensuring among others that, sustainable fishing 

methods and gears are used by the fisher folk. In this section, 

this manual expounds on training and technologies (fishing gears 

and methods) to be promoted and those that should be prohibited 

among the fisher folk. 

Appropriate fishing methods and gear 

The baseline study carried out by Uganda Wildlife Society in Buliisa 

revealed declining productivity trends in the fisheries resources in 

the last 5-10 years, an indicator that there is urgent need for effective 

sustainable fisheries resource use and management. This section 

of the manual focuses on empowering communities of Buliisa to 

sustainably manage the fisheries resources at their disposal, through 

use of appropriate harvesting methods and gear. The communities 

need to know the current challenges to sustainable management of 

the capture fisheries resources in Buliisa. They include the following: 

• Harvesting juvenile fish by use of illegal fishing gear, thus 

interfering with their recruitment into the population. 

• Harvesting the brooding stock in the breeding grounds 

and intercepting their migration route upstream. 

• Habitat degradation. 

• Declining fish species diversity and water quality. 

• Conflicts among different stakeholders such as BMUs, 

UWA and fisher folks. 

• High pos- harvest fish losses.


• Ineffective management of fisheries due to limited 

community participation. 

• Inadequate investment skills among fishers. 

Note: The participants can be asked to add to the above list 

Sustainable use and management of the capture fisheries resource 

in the Albert Nile can be achieved through the approaches and 

methods presented in the section that follows. 

Maintaining healthy fish habitats 

Communities living around the water system should avoid polluting 

it. Pollution leads to fish death and hence a decline in fish stocks 

and fish species diversity. If a pollution source is identified within a 

community, it should be immediately reported to the local or district 

authorities. The following are common causes of pollution: 

• Wetland degradation. 

• Poor agricultural practices such as exposure of soils and 

cutting of trees leading to soil erosion. 

• Improper use of farm chemicals that may lead to fish 

poisoning. 

Fishing in lagoon areas 

Lagoon areas are breeding grounds for fish and no fishing activity 

should take place in such areas. They should be left intact to allow 

uninterrupted breeding of fish. In Buliisa, the fishing communities 

have encroached on the lagoon area and most of the fishing activities 

take place in such places because the fish population is normally high 

(especially immature fish) in the breeding areas. The most known 

breeding sites along Lake Albert include the stretch from Katala 

to Kalolo, Wanseko (Nile Delta), from Bugoigo to Kabolwa, from 

Booma to Piida B and along Kigoya Landing Site.


Increased community participation in the fisheries resource 

management and use 

Increased community participation leads to increased and sustainable 

fish production. Communities living around water systems should 

ensure that proper fishing methods are used. They should report 

observations that may lead to unhealthy and unproductive water 

environment to Beach Management Units (BMUs) or Landing Site 

Committees. 

Use of appropriate fishing methods and gear 

Recommended fishing gear and methods have several benefits 

that include: 

• Allowing enough female Nile Perch to breed. 

• Uninterrupted fish breeding and growth. 

• Organisms that fish feed on to become available. 

• Increase in fish catches and consequently income and 

improved livelihoods among the fisher folk. 

• These methods are selective; the bigger nets catch bigger 

fish.. 

• Increased foreign exchange earnings from export of fish 

and other fish products and consequently food security 

and increased fish protein availability to people. 

The recommended fishing gear and fishing methods are discussed 

in the following section: 

Gill net (passive) 5-10 inches (12.5-25 cm) 

Gill nets are the most used type of fishing gear. This method is 

selective when passively used. However, if the net sizes are smaller, 

the gear catches immature fish.


Figure 6: Gill nets (passive) 5”-10” (12.5-25 cm). Source: NaFIRRI, 2003 

Figure 7: Hooks size 10 - 6 mm. Source: NaFIRRI, 2003 

Hooks size 6 - 10 mm 

Hooks are selective, with bigger sizes catching bigger fish. Hook 

fishing can be destructive when used in breeding and nursery 

grounds. Therefore it is always advisable to use the recommended 

size away from breeding grounds.


Drift nets 

This is a recent fishing method operated in open waters. It is 

recommended to use 6”-10”. 

Mukene nets: Mukene fishing depends on the fish being attracted to 

light. It is advisable to use 5-10 mm nets. 

Unsustainable and prohibited fishing methods and gear 

currently used in Buliisa 

Prohibited fishing gear in contrast to the recommended gear and 

methods discussed above, are destructive as many of them are highly 

non-selective, catch fish of all types and size, disrupt breeding and 

feeding patterns of the fish and deplete fish stocks rapidly. Examples 

of the prohibited fishing gear and methods include beach seines, 

seine nets, cast nets, basket traps and tycooning (beating water) and 

others discussed below. 

Trawling 

Trawling is highly non-selective and catches a large number of 

immature fish. This method destroys fish nests, fishermen’s nets 

and disrupts breeding especially of Tilapia. Trawling also destroys 

the habitats of bottom dwelling organisms. This fishing method is 

destructive and it is prohibited (Figure 8). 

Figure 8: Trawling. Source: NaFIRRI, 2003.


Tycooning (Beating water) 

Tycooning scares fish into the net, disrupts the breeding and feeding 

of fish, leading to overfishing (Figure 9). This method should be 

avoided by all the fishing communities. 

Figure 9: Tycooning. Source: NaFIRRI, 2003. 

Mukene light fishing 

Use of mosquito nets especially in nursery grounds, catches even the 

young of other fish species. Avoid use of mosquito nets and fishing 

mukene in nursery grounds near the shore. 

Seine net 

This is a large net with sinkers on one edge and floats on the other 

that hangs vertically in the water and is used to enclose and catch 

fish when its ends are pulled together or are drawn ashore. Seine nets 

are highly non selective, catch fish of all types and size and rapidly 

deplete the fish stock. They are destructive and prohibited by law. 

Cast nets 

Cast nets that are operated in breeding grounds interfere with fish 

breeding. They also catch immature fish. Avoid use of cast nets.


Fishing gear and fish species on L. Albert coastline between 

Butiaba and Wanseko 

In 2007, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI) 

conducted a baseline water quality assessment and fish survey on 

Lake Albert coastline between Butiaba and Wanseko. The study 

revealed that Wanseko Landing Site had the highest number of 

fishing boats (29%), followed by Bugoigo (23.5%) and least in 

Kabolwa (NaFIRRI, 2007). The biggest number of boat crew were 

at Wanseko (567), followed by Butiaba Piida-A (473), Bugoigo (461), 

Walukuba (389) and Kabolwa (143). The survey identified active 

boats and fishing gears operating at each landing site (Table 2), and 

size of populations of common fish species caught in seine and 

gillnets in the northern part of Lake Albert (Table 3). 

Table 2: Number of active boats with fishing gear operating at each 

landing site 

Gear type Landing site in Buliisa District Total no. 

Kabolwa Bugoigo Butiaba 

Piida-A 

Walukuba 

Wanseko 

of active 

boats 

Gillnet 42 57 70 19 72 260 

Long line 1 5 15 39 23 83 

Beach seine 1 3 0 0 0 4 

Cast net 0 20 0 1 0 21 

Hand line 0 0 0 0 2 2 

Traps 0 10 0 0 0 10 

Small seine 4 79 73 82 121 359 

Perforated 

basins 

10 3 0 0 0 13 

Total 58 177 158 141 218 752 

Source: NaFIRRI (2007)


Table 3: Size parameters of populations of common fish species 

caught in the seine and gillnets in the northern portion of 

Lake Albert-September 2007 

Species Gear type Size range of 

fish species 

Mean 

size 

% mature 

fish 

Lates niloticus 

Gill nets 

9-26 cm 

- 

- 

Beach seine 

- 

- 

- 

Hydrocynus forskahlii 

Gillnets 

9-38 cm 

22 

75 

Beach seine 

7-16 cm 

11 

0 

Oreochromis niloticus 

Gillnets 

7-30 cm 

17 

42 

Beach seine 

3-13 cm 

7 

0 

Brycinus nurse 

Gillnets 

70-168 mm 

79 

100 

Beach seine 

70-96 mm 

94 

100 

Thoracochromis wingatii 

Gillnets 

63-136 mm 

94 

100 

Beach seine 

44-138 mm 

75 

89 

Source: NaFIRRI (2007). 

Restoration of degraded buffer zones along the Albert Nile 

The vegetation near the water body is usually destroyed by 

fishing communities through deforestation to create space for 

crop cultivation, human settlement and obtain fuel wood. It is 

recommended that a distance of 100 m from the water body (buffer 

zone) should be left intact and no human activity should be carried 

out in this area. The degraded buffer zones should be restored 

by planting tree species like Markhamia lutea, Grevelia Robusta and 

Maesapsis eminii among others. 

Policy adherence 

The Uganda BMU Guidelines provide a framework for 

decentralisation and delegation of fisheries functions, powers and 

services and democratic participation and control of decision-


making. It is based on the general principles underpinning the 

Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) including shifts 

in decision-making for natural resource management, local 

participatory planning, and poverty focus and gender sensitivity 

in development. The National Fisheries Policy (NFP) 2003 also 

provides for - “Decentralisation and community involvement in fisheries 

management”. The nine BMUs and fishing communities in Buliisa 

need such information to sustainably manage the fisheries resources 

in the district in accordance with the relevant policies. 

For example, the BMU guidelines clearly indicate the role of BMUs 

in poverty reduction (Section 4), the objectives of BMUs (Section 5) 

and procedure for monitoring of BMU performance (Section 10). 

The Fish (Beach Management) Rules, 2003 provides for the roles 

of a BMU committee (Part III, Section 10), the roles of the BMU 

assembly (Part V, Section 14) and roles of the BMU members (Part 

VI, Section 15). Copies of the Statutory Instruments, 2003 No. 35, 

The Fish (Beach Management) Rules, 2003 and the Guidelines for 

Beach Management Units in Uganda (Under Section 43 of the Fish 

Act) will be availed to all the fisheries stakeholders. Where need be, 

these instruments will be translated in the local languages to cater 

for those who cannot read nor understand English. 

Wildlife Resource Dependent Communities 

Why UWS will work with wildlife resource-dependent 

communities 

The needs assessment study revealed that among the wildlife 

resource-dependent communities, the major constraints causing 

natural resources productivity decline are inappropriate management 

(36.4%), pests (including wildlife attack) and diseases (18.2%) and 

climate change (27.3%). To address these constraints, wildlife 

resource dependent communities indicated that interventions 

required include training and adoption of technologies that increase


environmental awareness and management including tree planting 

(36.4%), access to resources in protected areas (27.3%), and 

stabilisation of market for produce (18.2%), agricultural pests and 

disease control (9.1%). 


wildlife resource-dependent communities 

Problem animal control 

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a major conservation and 

management problem where people and wildlife coexist. HWC can 

take many forms, including loss of human life, destruction of crops 

and property, and competition for natural resources. The worst 

affected by human wildlife conflict are Wildlife Resource Dependent 

Communities (WRDCs) and Park Adjacent Communities (PACs) 

in Buliisa. Uganda Wildlife Authority Community Conservation 

Policy (2004), Section 3.2 provides for human-wildlife management. 

It states that “human-wildlife conflicts should be resolved in order 

to build a positive attitude towards wildlife by the public and to 

minimise the conservation costs to those who bear them most”. 

However, the current Problem Animal Control (PAC) techniques 

designed by Uganda Wildlife Authority to reduce the impact of 

problem animals such as elephants, crocodile and hippopotami are 

inadequate. Most of these techniques are either too expensive for 

rural farmers to afford, or are logistically unworkable in remote 

locations. Consequently there is a need to develop new conflict 

mitigation strategies in communal farming areas. The methods 

should be cheap and utilise locally available equipment. A unique 

problem animal control technique termed “Community-Based 

Problem Animal Control” (CBPAC) was developed in the mid- 

Zambezi valley of northern Zimbabwe where it is currently being 

used by seven communities to combat elephant crop-raiding (Parker,


2003). In 2002 the system was introduced to communities in South 

Luangwa, Zambia and Niassa Province, Mozambique. 

In Buliisa, UWS will ask communities to identify the animals that 

they feel are a problem in their area and mention the specific 

problems the animals cause to them. They will be asked to rank the 

animals in terms of severity of problems they cause. This exercise 

will be designed to focus everyone upon human wildlife conflict, 

and to consider the process of ranking problem animals objectively. 

Case study: Human-wildlife conflict in Masomo village, 

Zimbabwe (Parker, 2003) 

The mid-Zambezi valley is a low-lying area in northern Zimbabwe 

that has historically been rich in wildlife populations. People have 

only been able to settle in the area in large numbers in recent times, 

following the control of the tsetse fly. In the past 30 years, there has 

been a continuous influx of people who moved from other areas 

in Zimbabwe, seeking farmland. Elephants are considered a major 

problem and are blamed for crop destruction and endangering the 

lives of rural farmers. 

A crop-damage reporting scheme has revealed the nature and extent 

of crop damage by elephants and other wildlife species. It found that 

elephants did not always cause the most crop damage. In Masomo 

village, baboons and kudus caused most of the crop damage (Figure 

10). However, the farmers still perceived the elephants to be the 

greatest problem (Figure 11). 

Figure 10: Actual crop damage per wild problem animals in Masomo

Village, Zimbabwe. Source: Parker (2003). 


50 

40 

Proportion 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Baboon Kudu Bushpig Elephant Monkey 

Problem animal 

Figure 11: Farmers’ perceptions of problem animals in Masomo Village, 

Zimbabwe. Source: Parker (2003). 

45 

40 

35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Elephant Baboon Bushpig Birds Monkey Kudu 

Problem animal 

Community based problem animal control (CBPAC) methods 

The following CBPAC methods should be explained in detail to 

participants and an evaluation will be done at the end of the training 

(Appendix I) to determine the methods that would be affordable and 

applicable to the Buliisa communities. Some of these approaches 

have already been introduced to the community by UWA.


Buffer zones 

Buffer zones serve two purposes. First they define the boundary 

between the fields and the bush. Secondly, they enable farmers 

to detect approaching wildlife like elephants in good time so that 

they can get away before they are attacked. Buffer establishment 

involves clearing secondary forest on the boundary and creating 

some physical distance between the boundary and farmland. Farmers 

clear a 5 m wide buffer zone around their fields, or in some cases 

along the edge of the whole village (tools needed for buffer zone 

establishment include slashers and axes). 

Live fences (using sisal plants) 

Live fences (hedges) in Buliisa include sisal plants planted along 

buffer zones and around crop gardens by crop farmers and they 

establish this for purposes of deterring wildlife such as elephants 

from raiding their crops and attacking them. 

Bee keeping 

Bees effectively deter wildlife especially elephants from attacking 

crop farmers and raiding their crops. Farmers locate the bee hives 

near the buffer zones or the boundary of their gardens. Detailed 

explanation on bee keeping is given in another section in this manual. 

Watchtowers 

Watch towers are simple raised structures/shelter where someone 

can be positioned to sight wildlife from a distance. Farmers build 

these structures at approximately half- kilometre intervals to increase 

their chances of seeing wildlife such as elephants approaching their 

crop fields, monitor fire outbreaks and ensure quick response and as 

protection from rain for the person observing in the watch tower. 

These structures are usually constructed on a termite mound or 

some vantage point and can be replaced each season. Tools required


for watch tower construction include axe, poles, thatching grass 

and string. 

Alarm systems 

Alarm systems can be set up using string and cowbells or tin cans that 

are sounded when wildlife such as an elephant tries to enter a crop 

field. The equipment used to make alarm systems include cowbells 

or any other metal objects and string. These systems have great 

security value; they warn farmers of approaching wildlife/animals. 

Often there is some distance between the homestead or watch tower 

and the edge of the fields, and without a warning system, farmers 

would have to stay awake all night to protect their crops. Sound of 

the cowbells or tins scare the animals away from crop fields. 

Grease and hot pepper oil 

Grease and pepper oil are mixed together and applied to the string. 

The pepper oil is a concentrate made from red hot chili peppers. 

The grease acts as a waterproof medium that holds the pepper oil 

in place. If elephants make contact with the string, the pepper oil 

and grease causes irritation to the animals. Items used are grease 

and chili oil. 

Establishment of UWA emergency outposts 

Uganda Wildlife Authority in consultation with Park Adjacent 

Communities (PACs) can set up emergency outposts in areas that 

are prone to wildlife attacks. The guards will be able to respond in 

case of any wildlife attack. 

Toll free telephone contacts 

Uganda Wildlife Authority should install 24 hour- toll free telephone 

communication access in all field offices to facilitate effective 

communication in case of any emergencies. The telephone number 

should be made available to all stakeholders in the wildlife conflict 

region.


Pepper dung 

Elephant dung is mixed with ground chilies, compacted into a brick 

mould, and then dried in the sun. These bricks are burned in fires 

along the field boundaries to create a noxious smoke that lasts for 

3-4 hours and the smoke keeps away wildlife from raiding the fields 

and attacking communities. The materials used are elephant dung, 

dried chilies, and mould. 

Other problem animal control methods 

• Crocodiles: Crocodile barriers, in form of a cage near 

water bodies where communities can safely collect water. 

• Baboons (vermin): Good hygiene and proper disposal of 

waste food. 

• Hippos: Awareness on how a hippo responds when it sees 

a person, and how to respond to the hippo’s behavior. The 

hippo normally stops 2 to 3 times (warning signals) when 

it sees a person in its way. 

Note 

Due to scarcity of documented problem animal behaviour, a detailed 

discussion on animal behaviour should be held with the participants 

and documented thereafter. A Community Based Problem Animal 

control (CBPAC) self-assessment form is appended (Appendix I). 

Appropriate harvesting of resources from protected areas 

The Community Conservation Policy (CCP) of 2004 provides for 

negotiations between UWA and local communities in regard to 

access to wildlife resources within and outside Protected Areas (PAs). 

One of the objectives of the CCP is to promote regulated utilisation 

of wildlife resources within and outside protected areas so as to 

contribute to conservation and poverty eradication programmes. 

Some of the resources local communities can have access to include: 

• Fire wood. 

• Grass.


• Building poles. 

• Medicine. 

• Handi-craft raw materials like papyrus from swamps. 

• Fish from water bodies inside the PAs. 

CCP (2004) gives UWA the mandate to guide the PA neighbouring 

districts and sub-county local governments, local communities and 

the private sector to come up with and manage economically and 

ecologically viable wildlife enterprises and projects in accordance 

to the Uganda Wildlife Act, 2000 and the Uganda Wildlife Policy, 

1999. Local communities have a right to access wildlife resources 

such as listed above but this should be done in a sustainable manner 

to avoid depleting the resources. In general, there are guidelines 

for granting permission to local communities to harvest resources 

from Protected Areas (PAs). Usually, a request from the local 

communities in writing should be forwarded to the park authorities. 

The park authorities then assesses the quantities of resources that 

communities are seeking permission to harvest and the likely effects 

including conflicts that may arise from harvesting the resource and 

or related to resource harvesting. The proposed resource harvesting 

sought can be subjected to Environment Impact Assessments if 

deemed necessary. 

If the cost of conflict is higher than the benefits, access can be 

denied but if the benefits are higher than the potential conflicts, 

access is granted to the communities and an MoU formulated 

showing guidelines on how they can harvest the resources. Even 

when access is granted, communities are encouraged and sensitised 

to domesticate the resources instead of entirely depending on the 

park for the resources. 

Overall, in order to sustainably utilise wildlife resources, there is a 

need for the following to be considered by the resource managers, 

policy makers and resource users:


• Organised community groups: UWA requires wildlife 

resource dependent communities to form organised groups 

for ease of managing access to the wildlife resources they 

need from the PAs. 

• Binding documents: Documents such as MoUs for 

granting wildlife resource access and use between UWA 

and local communities. 

• Avoiding overexploitation of resources: Local communities 

need to harvest optimum amounts of resources and 

regeneration of such resources should be given priority. 

• Local community participation: Local communities should 

be involved in managing wildlife resources so as to own 

and protect the resources. 

• Domestication of used wild plants. 

• Local communities need to domesticate the wild plants that 

they value so as to reduce pressure on the wild resources. 

Such plants may include fruit trees, trees of medicinal 

value and shrubs for handicraft materials. Some of these 

plants can grow from seeds, cuttings or by transplanting 

their seedlings from the wild to homesteads. 

Note 

The participants should suggest the wild plants they would like to 

domesticate. 

Assisted tree regeneration 

Though not normally planted by farmers because of the long 

gestation period, regeneration of wild tree species can be facilitated 

by human management, both by covering germinated seeds with 

mulch, and through protection of the seedlings when clearing land 

for cultivation. Due to the high costs of planting trees, there is 

increased interest in the protection and stimulation of natural tree 

regeneration especially where mother trees are available. Assisted


tree regeneration aims at encouraging farmers to identify, protect and 

stimulate the growth of naturally regenerating trees in their fields. 

Under this system, young woody plants are staked using sticks and 

protected from grazing, browsing, tillage and fire. 

Product development and marketing 

In order to increase household income, wildlife resource-dependent 

communities need to locally develop products such as handicraft 

materials and non-timber forest products. 

Handicraft materials 

Buliisa District is a potential tourist destination due to the presence 

of Murchison Falls National Park and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve. 

There are no handicraft shops in Buliisa despite the great potential of 

this industry in the area. Handicraft makers need to form organised 

groups to exploit this economic potential. Such organised groups 

can have access to raw materials (such as papyrus, reeds, tree barks, 

poles and grass) from the protected areas. 

Non-Timber Forest Products 

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) constitute goods of biological 

origin other than timber as well as services from forests and allied 

natural resources. Non-timber forest products are important among 

others for: 

• Combating malnutrition and improving diets of local 

communities. 

• Source of income. 

• Insurance against seasonal food shortages. 

• Source of medicine. 

Common examples of NTFP’s include: 

• Nuts and seeds: there are a number of tree species that 

produce fruits whose nuts are useful for example, the the 

Balanites tree fruits and seeds.


• Mushrooms: they contain proteins, minerals and vitamins. 

They are suitable for diabetic people because they do not 

have much starch in them. 

• Honey: the apiculture industry employs a number of 

rural people. Honey can be eaten as food; it is also used 

in medicine and cosmetics. Other NTFPs that can be 

obtained from the wild include rattans, bamboo, latex, 

gums, essential oils, tannins and resins. 

Questions for discussion 

(i) 

Identify key NTFPs in your area. 

(ii) To what extent are they important to local communities? 

(iii) Assess the suitability of the tenure regime. 

(iv) How would you promote sustainable utilisation of NTFPs 

in your area? 

(v) 

How would you enhance the social economic benefits from 

NTFPs? 

(vi) What strategies should be put in place to enhance benefits 

of NTFPs to community? 

Bee-keeping 

Bee-keeping can improve the economic condition of a farmer 

by providing additional income through the sale of bee products 

namely honey and bee-wax. Honey is nutritious, medicinal, can 

substitute for sugar and it is an income earner. Bee-wax is valuable 

as it can be used to make cosmetics, polishes, candles, thus earning 

income. Bees pollinate crops and the result of efficient pollination 

is higher yields of crops. This also means increased earnings from 

crops. Good honey production begins with the choice of a site for 

the apiary, having good type of hive and carrying out proper hive 

and apiary management.


Guidelines for choosing a suitable apiary site 

The site for an apiary project should be in an area with plenty 

of nectar source. Baiting a top bar beehive with bee-wax is 

recommended to work as a starter for bees. Bee forage includes 

Albizzia, Combretum, Acacia hockii, Lantana camara, Calliandra, 

Moonflower, Musa spp. citrus fruits, passion fruits, sunflower, coffee 

and other flowering plants. There should be a water source nearby. 

You may provide water in a basin with floating sticks for bees to 

land on. Apiary sites should not be near homes and livestock or near 

public places like schools, hospitals, markets, or roads. There should 

be sufficient shade, air circulation, windbreaks, and protection from 

vandalism, bush fire and floods. It should be easily accessible and 

low frequency of insecticide use. 

Among types of apiaries, Kenya Top Bar (KTB) hives have been 

commonly used. In these, bees build combs along each bar so that 

when you remove each bar you are removing a comb. The bars are 

constructed in total observance of the space of Mellifera adansonii, 

which is 32 mm. KTB hives may be suspended on wires on posts 

at waist level for easy manipulation. Bars should be placed along the 

hive and no gaps should be left. Then firmly place the iron sheets 

cover and leave no openings between the cover and hive. You may 

place on the cover a stone or a small brick so that wind does not 

blow the hive. Keep the entrances clear of grass; grease the wires 

so that pests do not enter the hive wires. Put some ash around the 

posts to prevent safari ants from accessing the hive. Always keep 

the grass in the apiary low to keep pests away. The apiary boundary 

should be dug clear to prevent the spread of bush fire. 

Hive inspection 

A hive may be inspected regularly during the early period of 

colonisation and during honey flow period. During inspection, the 

top bars may be lifted one by one. Lift them firmly and carefully 

vertical to the hive so that the combs do not break.


Guidelines for honey harvesting 

Use protective clothing to guard against the stings. The protective gear 

includes overall, veil, gloves, boots and smoker. It is recommended 

to harvest capped honey only and keep separate buckets for fully 

sealed honeycombs and partially sealed ones. Cover honey to avoid 

robber bees. Leave some honey in bee hive for continuity of the 

colony. Do not harvest brood combs. Extract the honey and also 

make bee- wax from the combs. Honey and bee-wax are both crops. 

Preparation of honey for the market 

Honey being food should not be exposed to contamination. 

Therefore, the people and place from which all the equipment used 

for honey are got must be clean. All containers should be dry to 

avoid fermentation of honey and honey should not be boiled on 

direct fire as this causes it to deteriorate in quality. 

Honey extraction (separation of honey from combs) 

There are many methods and a variety of equipment used in 

extracting honey. Honey should remain as natural as possible and it 

is this naturalness, which is its strong selling proposition. Minimum 

handling will lead to a better product. The most common and 

affordable method is the Comb Pressing method. The honey combs 

may be broken into small pieces put in a Hessian bag and pressed 

using honey press. Honey flows into a receiving bucket. 

Straining honey 

All extracted honey has to be strained to get a clean product. A tank 

can filter honey of a big volume. There are several types of strainers, 

which may also be used to strain honey through the provision of 

a series of nets. Some strainer tanks have provisions for packaging 

as well.

Packing honey 


Honey for sale may be packed in glass or plastic bottles with wide 

mouth. Glass jars make honey look clear and attractive to customers 

but they are expensive, heavy in body and have a greater risk of 

breaking. Plastic is cheap, light and makes honey look cloudy. Avoid 

bottles with narrow opening, as it is difficult to get honey out after 

granulation. A weighing scale should be used to get net and gross 

weight of honey. In pricing, consider all your expenses including 

family labour then put a profit. This is possible when all the records 

of the costs have been kept. 

Community and Adventure tourism 

The local communities in Buliisa have not tapped into the rich 

tourism potential of the area. The communities can improve their 

livelihoods through making handicraft materials and market them 

to tourists who go through Buliisa to Murchison Falls National Park. 

The accommodation in the park is sometimes either not enough for 

the tourists or too expensive for some tourists, hence the need for 

alternative accommodation. The business community is encouraged 

to build relatively cheaper accommodation lodges near the park, 

which can be used by the tourists. These may include rondavels, huts, 

bandas, tents and tent pads. Well planned organised campsites for 

back-parkers are another form of affordable accommodation for 

tourists. Another unexploited product in cultural tourism is domicile 

tourism, where tourists stay with people in their homes like any 

other guests. The business community can also set up leisure parks 

in Buliisa Town Council and along the Murchison road for tourists 

to spend time while in Buliisa. Other potential products include 

adventure leisure activities like mountain/hill climbing, treasure 

hunting, wild fruit and berry harvesting, traditional dish preparation, 

traditional games and sports, football and other modern sports 

matches with schools and communities, amphitheatre for cultural 

performances( dances, recitations, and related performances).


A replica of the royal homestead/palace can be a good tourist 

attraction. 

A tourist and cultural resource centre should be established in 

the precincts of the national park where tourists can get to know 

the history of the area and the people, their culture, origin and 

staple foods among others. Tourists are always interested in such 

information. Local communities should develop their culture and 

market it as a tourist product. 

The Community Conservation Policy (2004) provides for 

Community-Based Tourism Management, through the following 

four strategies: 

• Liaison with Uganda Community Tourism Association 

(UCOTA), local communities and local councils to 

guide organised community groups in identifying and 

implementing community-based tourism enterprises. 

• Collaboration with the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and 

the concerned community groups would promote market 

and publicise the community-based tourism facilities. 

Liaison with UCOTA, and other relevant stakeholders 

to train community group members and to build their 

capacity to provide quality tourist products and services 

is important. 

• Formulation of procedures for developing and 

implementing wildlife tourism related enterprises and 

managing joint ventures is also a crucial strategy.

Chapter Three 

Climate change 

Cross-cutting issues among 

resource users and managers 

What is climate change? 

This is change in global temperature and rainfall over a period of 

time. Radiations from the sun upon reflection from the earth or 

ocean surface to the atmosphere are reflected back by a layer of 

greenhouse gasses in the stratosphere. Greenhouse gases such as 

carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofloro carbons and nitrogen oxide 

come from automobile emissions, vegetation and charcoal burning, 

refrigerators and other human activities. The concentration of these 

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is the problem, has been 

increasing due to diminishing forest cover. 

What are and or will be some of the impacts of climate 

change globally? 

• Alteration of rainfall regimes. 

• Frequent extreme temperatures (lower and higher in the 

north and south latitudes). 

• Shifts in species geographic distribution. 

• Shifts in species’ phonologies (reproductive cycles, 

mechanisms and success). 

• Extinction of some species that will fail to adapt. 

• Yields increase and or decrease depending on species and 

or geographic regions. 

• Phenotypic plasticity of species in response to 

environment stress. 

• Genetic variation/evolution/emergence of new species. 

53


How much is not yet known about climate change globally? 

• The extent to which actual effects changes in and 

frequency of extreme temperatures will have on specific 

developmental stages of different species. 

• Threshold temperature for onset of responses in species 

at different developmental stages. 

• The mechanisms underlying yield reductions. 

• Combined effect of increasing temperature and carbon 

dioxide concentration on crop species yields. 

What are the manifestations of climate change so far in 

Uganda? 

• Increased occurrence of floods, hail storms and 

landslides. 

• Increased average temperatures especially in the highlands 

(Kabale for example). 

• Melting of ice on the Ruwenzori Mountain whose 

glaciers provide water to people. 

• Crop yield failures. 

What has Uganda done so far to address the effects of 

climate change? 

• In process of domesticating the UNFCCC and the Kyoto 

Protocol. 

• Developed a National Adaptation Programmes of Action 

(NAPA) for climate change. 

• Established Climate Change Unit under the Ministry of 

Water and Environment. 

• Has a Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change to guide 

decisions on climate change.

Cross-cutting Issues Among Resource Users and Managers 55 

What remains to be done to address climate change 

problems in Uganda nationally and even among 

communities like the Buliisa people? 

• Complete and actualise the national climate change policy 

and regulations. 

• Equip and adequately staff the Meteorology Department 

to ensure timely monitoring, prediction and dissemination 

of data on climate change. 

• Provide refresher training to personnel of Environment 

and Natural Resources Directorate to enable them keep 

up-to date with climate change matters. 

• Increase climate change awareness among rural 

communities up to national levels. 

• Establish institutions to carry out policy research, 

education and development of technologies for climate 

change adaptation and mitigation. 

• Integrate climate change education in primary and 

secondary school curricula and, stress the use of clubs and 

societies to enhance knowledge and practice of climate 

change management among learners. 

• Implement Climate Change Adaptation activities (CCAPA) 

in all sectors. 

• Ensure schools and hospitals cater for climate change 

impacts like lightning. 

• Use available climate and weather data in planning and 

decision making in all sectors. 

• Establish climate change sector to implement and monitor 

the adaptation and mitigation strategies. 

• Mainstream, prioritise and allocate funds to climate change 

in development programmes. 

• Develop a national climate change action plan and 

implement and monitor it annually at all levels.


• Promote energy use efficiency in all sectors. 

• Stop deforestation and promote appropriate tree planting 

and land uses. 

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest 

degradation (REDD) awareness in Buliisa 

What is REDD? 

In definition, REDD stands for countries’ efforts to reduce 

emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster 

conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement 

of forest carbon stocks (Cerbu et al., 2009). REDD is based on a core 

idea; reward individuals, communities, projects and countries that 

reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Apart from the tropical 

high forests, woodlands under various management regimes, where 

Buliisa falls, have a high potential for REDD. 

Furthermore, REDD is about making the private sector part of 

the solution by providing the kind of market signals, mechanisms 

and incentives to encourage investments that manage and conserve 

the world’s nature-based resources rather than mining them (Blom, 

2010). So it is about making money and conserving the planet 

too and if REDD can be structured right, the money will be 

made not just by carbon traders, but also by developing countries 

and communities for providing the forest-based carbon storage 

service. It is predicted that financial flows from North to South for 

greenhouse gas reductions from REDD could reach up to US$30 

billion a year—funds that can be invested in renewable energy 

projects to assist the two billion people that do not have access to 

electricity or hospitals or schools.

Cross-cutting Issues Among Resource Users and Managers 57 

What Buliisa communities can do to participate in 

National REDD Projects 

• Identify potential REDD sites in their communities. 

• Identify activities that can contribute to achieving REDD. 

• Develop Community protocols within the context of the 

UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 

Funding for REDD strategy will most likely be implemented in the 

next 2 years. Benefits expected to accrue from integration of REDD 

in watershed management include: 

• Annual revenue from REDD-plus would be available for 

re-investment for forest development. 

• Better management of forest ecology leading to biodiversity 

conservation, drought proofing and enhanced adaptation 

capacity to climate change. 

• Productivity and tree species diversity, both within and 

outside forest areas would be improved. 

• Improvement in rain water harvesting. 

• Increased productivity from agriculture and allied sectors, 

and poverty reduction because of enhanced livelihoods 

opportunities. 

How can communities in Buliisa benefit from the 

National REDD Projects? 

The needs of local forest communities, especially indigenous 

groups, have frequently been ignored in the past. However media 

attention surrounding REDD and the potentially huge sums of 

money involved imply that national governments have to give these 

communities more recognition. Ultimately, ending deforestation 

means changing the behaviour of people on the ground, and 

REDD is an effective tool to do that. In general, REDD projects 

could help local communities to determine how their lives are run. 

Because funding goes directly to the community, REDD can break


the stranglehold that corrupt governments frequently have on both 

international development aid and on other types of income from 

forests, such as profits from logging and mining. REDD can also 

deliver ‘co-benefits’ such as biodiversity conservation and poverty 

alleviation. REDD is remarkably a cost-effective source of carbon, 

given that it is estimated that US $10 per hectare per year could 

protect rainforests in Africa.

Chapter Four 

Natural resource use and 

management conflict resolution 

Why target natural resource use and management 

conflicts in Buliisa? 

Natural resource use and management conflicts have been reported 

in Buliisa among resource managers and users. The conflicts have 

resulted in overexploitation of resources and sometimes loss of 

human life. The subsequent sections below address the various 

kinds of conflicts that UWS intends to address by facilitating among 

others dialogues, bye-laws and MoUs to help resolve resource use 

and management conflicts among resource managers and resource 

users in Buliisa district. 

Conflict resolution within and among resource 

users (communities) 

Pastoralists and Crop Farmers 

The current communal land tenure system in Buliisa District has 

a great influence on the management of livestock by the cattle 

keepers. The cattle are usually abandoned by their keepers and left 

to graze freely with no control and destroy farmers’ crops. Despite 

the presence of bye-laws and draft ordinances, the cattle still roam 

freely and destroy crops without any compensation to the farmers. 

The communities should be sensitised on the existing bye-laws and 

demand their implementation from the concerned authorities. An 

MoU has also been proposed between crop farmers and pastoralists 

on compensation for cattle crop destruction. 

59


Conflict resolution among resource managers and 

users 

Resource managers (UWA, NFA) and Wildlife Resource 

Dependent Communities 

The baseline survey carried out by Uganda Wildlife Society (UWS) 

in Buliisa, under the Ecosystems Alliance (EA) project, revealed 

existing resource management conflicts between UWA and National 

Forestry Authority (NFA). The conflict stems from the management 

of the interface between Bugungu Wildlife Reserve and Budongo 

Forest Reserve. The two parastatal organisations agreed to comanage 

this area. The conflict has also negatively affected the 

wildlife resource-dependent communities by reducing their access 

to the wild resources. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) 

between NFA, UWA and wildlife resource dependent communities 

has been proposed and will be facilitated by the EA project. Policy 

recommendations regarding the conflict will also be documented. 

Resource managers (UWA, BMUs) and the fisher folk 

As the human population increases, pressure on natural resources 

grows. In the past, fisheries management relied heavily on a 

centralised command and control approach. Such an approach 

proved inadequate in meeting the needs of the sector and thus 

leading to introduction of Beach Management Units (BMUs) at 

all landing sites. Buliisa District has registered conflicts between 

UWA and the Wanseko BMU, which has also affected the fishing 

communities in the area. Wanseko is a “unique” landing site, a 

portion of which is located in Murchison Falls National Park. This 

has caused conflict over who manages the water resource: is it UWA 

or the Wanseko BMU? A comprehensive MoU between the two 

parties, including the local government and fisher folks, has been 

proposed and will be facilitated by UWS-EA Project.

Natural Resource Use and Management Conflict Resolution 61 

Bye-laws and MoUs among resource users and 

managers 

In order to achieve sustainable utilisation of the natural resources in 

Buliisa, Uganda Wildlife Society (UWS) under the EA-Project will 

facilitate the formulation of bye-laws and MoUs among resource 

users and managers in Buliisa District. There are also a number 

of bye-laws and ordinances, which the local communities are not 

aware of. Some of the resource use MoUs have expired and need 

to be renewed. However, local communities insist that the expired 

MoUs should be revised first before renewing them because they 

had loopholes. Some of the expired MoUs include the MoU for 

communities to collect firewood and grasses from Murchison Falls 

National Park and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve. A new MoU has been 

proposed that will allow local communities to sustainably harvest 

papyrus from wetlands in Bugungu Wildlife Reserve. This could 

help to promote hand craft making and use of non- timber forest 

products (NTFPs). Such products will also promote community 

tourism in Buliisa, hence diversifying local community’ livelihood 

options. 

An MoU on management of Wanseko landing site has also been 

proposed, which will bind the Wanseko fishing communities, UWA, 

Wanseko BMU and the Buliisa Local Government. 

Note 

Uganda Wildlife Society will ensure full participation of all resource 

users and management stakeholders, including the local communities 

at the grass roots, technical officials, political leaders and resource 

managers while designing the above MoUs and bye-laws.


Resource use and management conflicts emerging 

with oil developments 

Why UWS will work with communities that are 

dependent on oil activities in Buliisa 

The needs assessment study revealed that among oil activities 

dependent communities, the major constraints/perceived causes 

of natural resources productivity decline is pollution (33.3%), 

inappropriate management (33.3%), pests (including wildlife attack) 

and diseases (16.7%) and climate change (16.7%). To address these 

constraints the oil activities dependent communities recommended 

interventions that include training and use of technologies to 

increase environmental awareness and management (33.3%), 

pollution control (16.7%) and pests and disease control (16.7%). 

Uganda Wildlife Society selected training and technologies to be 

promoted as part of interventions that oil dependent communities 

asked for and these are given in the section that follow. 

What knowledge do communities need for 

participation in and to benefit from oil related activities 

in Buliisa? 

Prior knowledge of oil activities impact and benefits to 

communities 

Traces of oil were first discovered in the Albertine Graben way back 

in 1926 .This was followed by the enactment of petroleum laws in 

1985. The oil and gas regulations were then formulated in 1993 and 

four years later (1997) the Government of Uganda licensed Heritage 

Company to collect data (seismic survey) on the quantity of oil and 

gas in the Albertine Graben. The formulation of the oil and gas 

policies (up-stream, mid- stream and down-stream) was commenced 

in 2008 and review and passing of these policies started in 2012.


The local communities in Buliisa District need to have prior 

knowledge of the negative impact of oil activities on the already 

existing natural resources at their disposal. Awareness will help 

the communities to plan appropriate interventions to combat the 

following negative impacts: 

• Oil spills that pollute the soil, air and water. 

• Increased deforestation due high fuel wood demand. 

• Offshore drilling that affects fish populations. 

• Blocking of wildlife migration routes. 

• Oil flaring that emits excessive noise. 

• Increased pressure on existing natural resources as a result 

of influx of people. 

Environmental standards safeguard in the face of oil activities 

The health and safety of people and the protection of the natural 

environment in which the oil companies operate are critical business 

considerations. The oil companies should put significant effort 

in managing the environment, health and safety (EHS) risks and 

achieving the EHS objectives. The oil companies should seek to 

achieve targets that promote efficient use of resources to reduce and 

prevent pollution and protect biodiversity. This should at all times 

be done openly and honestly with all stakeholders, and particularly 

with those people affected by oil operations. 

Question: If I saw a small oil spill on the ground, just a few litres 

do I have to report it? 

Answer: Yes, all spills or releases of hydrocarbons or chemicals need 

to be reported to your local leader as soon as you become aware. 

This will enable the regulatory agencies to determine the cause and 

implement corrective actions.


Oil companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility 

Oil companies in the Albertine Graben have a Corporatete Social 

Responsibility (CSR) component under which communities receive 

certain services. These may include among others, income generating 

activities. The communities need to be given opportunity to develop 

due to the businesses and income generating activities associated 

with the petroleum and gas industry. These businesses can create 

market for locally produced products – from agriculture, livestock 

and labour. Others benefits are: 

• Communities would expect to benefit from investments 

arising from Corporate Social Responsibility, such as 

education/school and health facilities. 

• Development programmes sponsored by oil companies 

through oil revenue sharing should be used for community 

development. 

• The communities expect income from employment in oil 

industry or associated businesses and sectors. 

• Training and exposure of community members to recognise 

their roles and responsibilities. This training should target 

empowering and giving communities the confidence to 

exercise their roles and responsibilities in the society. 

• Training and exposing communities about the opportunities 

for tapping into the oil industry. 

• Facilitating access to information about the ongoing and 

planned developments in the locality. 

Bye laws and MoUs for community participation in 

and benefit from oil activities 

In order to ensure community participation in compliance 

monitoring and benefits from oil related activities, a Memorandum 

of Understanding (MoU) has been proposed between oil companies


and the local communities. The key issues will include but not limited 

to the following: 

• Creation of strong local advocacy teams in the community; 

these teams will lobby for their rights and ensure local 

people’s participation in compliance monitoring and 

benefit sharing from oil related activities. However, 

advocacy teams should not be confrontational as they 

advocate for the needs of their communities. 

• The community liaison officers in areas of operation 

who are responsible for taking queries and concerns from 

community members. 

• Local people’s participation in Environmental Impact 

Assessments (EIAs) and access to EIA reports. 

• Formation of local monitoring groups to effectively 

participate in monitoring oil exploration and production 

activities. 

Major steps in the formulation of Environmental 

Impact Assessments (EIAs) 

• A consultant is hired to carry out an EIA with full local 

community participation at the initial stage. The village and 

sub county Environment Committees are very resourceful 

at this stage of EIA development. 

• The draft EIA document is then submitted to National 

Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in 

Kampala. 

• National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) 

sends back the EIA report to the local communities 

through the District Environment Officer. 

• A public hearing of the Draft EIA report is then conducted 

and the necessary changes are made in the report. 

• The EIA report is then be passed by NEMA after the 

public agrees to its contents.

Chapter Five 

Feeding lessons and experiences of ecosystems 

alliance in Buliisa to national policy 

formulation processes 

Goals and Mandates of Uganda Wildlife Society 

Uganda Wildlife Society (UWS), one of the largest and diverse 

membership-based conservation groups in Uganda, has been at the 

forefront of active conservation in Uganda. With members from 

academia, the public sector, the private sector and the general public, 

UWS is committed to promoting the conservation of wildlife and environment 

in Uganda. UWS operates under five strategic programs including 

environmental research, conservation initiatives, membership, policy 

and advocacy. 

Studies have shown that advocacy, policy and stakeholder synergies 

are critical to realising meaningful natural resource conservation 

programmes. Therefore, UWS within its mandate of conservation 

policy influencing activities will within the Ecosystems Alliance 

Project lifespan engage in national level advocacy and policy 

influencing dialogues particularly to feed lessons, experiences and 

research information from Buliisa project into the national level 

policy platform. 

Feeding lessons and research information from Buliisa 

into the national policy forum 

Uganda Wildlife Society will disseminate the lessons learnt from 

the interactions with the local communities while implementing 

the project interventions to all stakeholders at local, national and 

international levels. This will enable replication of the technologies in 

67


other regions with similar resource use and management challenges 

with ease. These lessons will be translated into policy briefs and will 

influence policy reviews and formulation by the national parliament 

and the North-South knowledge exchange forum. The Society has 

already conducted three policy dialogues under the Ecosystems 

Alliance project and policy issues that emerged from these dialogues 

which include the following: 

Dialogue I 

Theme “Natural Resource Conservation in the 

Albertine Rift. What are the Policy Issues Now”? 

1. A campaign to start conservation sensitisation of politicians and the 

elite class to inculcate in them biodiversity conservation values. 

2. To settle conflicts between UWA and NFA, one of the suggested 

interventions, is to construct a road between the boundaries of 

Budongo Forest and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve. 

3. Despite the sensitivity analysis of the Murchison-Semliki landscape by 

NEMA, this report has not been fully embraced by the oil companies. 

4. The declaration of Uganda as a tourist destination (2012) should 

challenge the relevant stakeholders to take tourism as a priority for this 

country, even beyond oil exploration which will only last 20-30 years. 

5. The area Member of Parliament supported the sustainable use of 

wetlands in the National Park; MoUs will bind communities and 

UWA for sustainable harvesting of craft materials. 

6. The methods of preventing poaching used by UWA, which involve 

killing of poachers, should be revised and EA project should focus on 

improving livelihoods and offering alternatives to communities. 

7. The community conservation department in UWA needs funding to 

build public trust towards management of wildlife resources.

Feeding Lessons and Experiences of Ecosystems Alliance in Buliisa 69 

8. There is a general consensus that the government of Uganda needs 

to start planning the transfer of land to the state, to allow better 

management of the natural resources and economic development, 

even as the country prepares for the East African Community regional 

integration. 

9. There is urgent need to implement the 2010 Physical Planning Act. 

The implementation of this act lies in the hands of the minister but 

it has never been implemented. This will allow effective land use 

planning in the country. 

10. There is no law in place governing oil revenue sharing yet the country 

is in advanced stages of exploring the oil in the Albertine rift region. 

11. Sensitisation of the citizens by the local leaders about land rights and 

policies. 

12. Engage the ministry responsible for land to enforce the implementation 

of compensation rates in collaboration with the Chief Government 

Valuer. 

13. Establishment of Land Committees. 

14. Government should streamline the land tenure systems in the region. 

15. Revision of the immigration policy so that the immigrants are bound 

with stringent laws regarding land acquisition. Curb land grabbing, 

forceful evictions, infiltration of immigrants into the areas, and 

purchase of land by non-community members. 

16. Gender awareness campaigns about women’s’ rights for example rights 

to own property, Inheritance Act and related legislation. 

17. Sensitisation of women about becoming conscious of their capabilities; 

gender considerations in job allocation by the companies. 

18. Empower women to be able to participate in decision making. 

19. Encouraging CSR related to community-based tourism especially 

participation by women.


20. Collaborative park management for investment purposes to enable 

accessibility of the areas by the local community and promote 

sustainable utilisation of wildlife. 

21. Promotion of other economic activities and benefit sharing for the 

entire community. 

22. Emphasise off-farm activities/ alternative sources of livelihoods to be 

able to tap into the oil and tourism industry. 

23. Sensitisation on human rights and policies regarding natural resource 

use and management. 

24. Zonation of grazing and farming land to avoid inter resource use 

conflicts. 

25. Sensitisation of communities about the values of wildlife and dangers 

of living adjacent to protected areas. 

Dialogue II 

Theme: “Biodiversity Conservation in Uganda: What 

are the challenges and opportunities”? 

1. Promote breeding of indigenous tree species especially in the 

restoration of degraded Albertine Rift ecosystems in order to conserve 

biodiversity richness. 

2. An understanding of animals and animal behaviour by the wildlife 

resource dependent communities and park adjacent communities. 

3. Increase financial support to the national community tree planting 

exercise by National Forestry Authority (NFA). 

4. The current Wildlife Act should be revised to include a section on 

compensation for loss of life, because currently UWA has no capacity

Feeding Lessons and Experiences of Ecosystems Alliance in Buliisa 71 

to compensate life, but rather supports burial arrangements and takes 

care of the children of the deceased. 

5. Indigenous tree species site-matching by NFA, other than relying on 

exotic tree species like pine and eucalyptus. 

6. There is need for an independent line ministry to govern biodiversity 

conservation. 

7. Oil companies should clearly spell out the interventions in case of oil 

spills and accidents, including loss of life in operations related to oil 

and gas exploration. 

8. Each central government and local government forest reserve should 

have a management plan for biodiversity conservation. The process of 

endorsing forest management plans by the minister should be faster 

since most of the Central Forest Reserves are being managed with 

draft management plans which are not yet approved by the minister. 

9. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) should provide incentives and 

a mechanism that can facilitate whistle blowers to report poachers 

of elephants, especially the big investors from China and Japan. This 

can be achieved by cultivating good public relations and having better 

information management systems. 

10. NFA and UWA should make their publications easily accessible to the 

academia and the general public. 

11. Uganda Wildlife Authority should design better mechanisms that will 

ensure protection of wildlife outside protected areas to better conserve 

biodiversity. 

12. Carbon markets such as REDD, Payment for Ecosystem Services 

(PES) and Saw-log Production Grant Scheme (SPGS) should consider 

farmers with small pieces of land while promoting tree planting. They 

should also consider indigenous tree species in such programmes. 

13. Promote local community participation in fighting poaching and 

awareness creation in communities around protected areas on the 

dangers of poaching.


14. There is urgent need to engage parliament and the executive in the 

management of protected areas. This is because most of the local 

communities have seen the value of protecting wildlife, while the elites 

and investors are directly/ indirectly engaged in poaching. 

15. Advocate for lifting of the ban on NFA to lease out Central Forest 

Reserves (CFRs) to private tree planters. This is because many private 

tree planters are in need of land to plant more trees and this will 

promote biodiversity conservation especially if indigenous trees are 

planted in the degraded CFRs. 

16. A comprehensive research on where the power to conserve biodiversity 

lies. This is because there is ever increasing interference by the executive 

and legislators (Ministers, President and Members of Parliament) in 

matters concerning biodiversity conservation. For example banning 

eviction of people from PAs and supporting investors to clear forested 

areas (Mabira) for sugar cane growing. 

17. Promotion of integrated natural resource management involving 

protected areas adjacent communities. 

18. Uganda Wildlife Authority and NFA should initiate projects geared 

towards poverty eradication and alternative livelihood options among 

local communities.

References 

Angelsen, A. (ed.) 2008. Moving ahead with REDD: Issues, options 

and implications. CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia 

Blom, B.2010. Getting REDD to work locally: lessons learned from 

integrated conservation and development projects. Environ. Sci. 

Policy, doi:10.1016/j.envsci. 2010.01.002 

Cerbu G, Minang PA, Swallow B, Meadu V. 2009. Global survey of 

REDD projects: What implications for global climate objectives? 

ASB PolicyBrief No. 12. ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest 

Margins, Nairobi, Kenya. 

Nabanoga, G, Namaalwa, J and Ssenyonjo, E. 2010. REDD Working 

Papers: REDD and sustainable development – perspective from 

Uganda IIED, London. 

NAFORRI, 2001. Boundary/Contour Tree Planting Technology. 

National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO). 

Agroforestry Series No.4. 

NaFIRRI. 2003. Lake Victoria Fishery: Exploitation, Gears, Fishing 

Methods and Management. National Agricultural Research 

Organisation (NARO) Jinja – Uganda. 

NaFIRRI, 2007. A baseline water quality assessment and fish survey 

on Lake Albert coastline between Butiaba and Wanseko, Final 

report, Prepared for Environmental Assessment Consult Limited 

(EACL). 

NEMA. 2012. Operational Waste Management Guidelines for Oil 

and Gas Operations. Kampala, Uganda. 

Parker G. E 2003. Community-based Problem Animal Control. 

Proceedings document, Training Course Lupande Game 

Management Area, South Luangwa, Zambia. Mid-Zambezi 

Elephant Project, 9 Lezard Avenue, Milton Park, Harare, 

Zimbabwe.


The National Forestry and Tree Planting Act, 2003. Ministry of Water 

Lands and Environment, Kampala, Uganda. 

UWS. 2011. Climate Change the Global Phenomena, Uganda in 

Perspective: What is it? What does Policy Makers need to know 

and to do?

Appendices 

Appendix 1: Community Based Problem Animal 

Control Self-assessment Form 

This form is designed purely to help us evaluate how effective 

the training session has been. It is not a test, and there is no need 

to place your name on the paper. Please answer each question as 

honestly as possible. 

Instructions 

Answer each question by placing a ring around the number that 

most suits your present skills or knowledge in that field. 

1 = no knowledge 

2 = a little knowledge 

3 = some knowledge 

4 = a lot of knowledge 

5 = excellent knowledge 

1. How well do you understand the term “human-wildlife conflict”? 

1 2 3 4 5 

2. How well do you understand the term Problem Animal Control 

(PAC)? 

1 2 3 4 5 

3. Are you familiar with current methods of PAC? 

1 2 3 4 5 

4. How much do you know about the strengths and weaknesses of 

current PAC techniques? 

1 2 3 4 5 

75


5. What do you know about community-based PAC (CBPAC) 

techniques? 

1 2 3 4 5 

6. How well do you understand the strengths and weaknesses of CBPAC? 

1 2 3 4 5 

7. How well do you understand the terms “passive” and “active” PAC? 

1 2 3 4 5 

8. How well do you know how to set up CBPAC systems? 

1 2 3 4 5 

9. How well do you feel you would be able to maintain CBPAC systems? 

1 2 3 4 5 

10. How well do you feel you would be able to train others in CBPAC 

techniques? 

1 2 3 4 5

Appendicies 77 

Appendix 2: Useful Natural Resources Policy and 

Management Guidelines in Uganda 

Operational waste management guidelines for oil and gas operations 

by NEMA 

GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA 

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT 

AUTHORITY (NEMA) 

OPERATIONAL WASTE MANAGEMENT 

GUIDELINES 

FOR OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS 

National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) 

P.O. Box 22255 KAMPALA 

Tel: 256-414-251064/5/8 

Fax: 256-414-257521 

web: http://www.nemaug.org 

June, 2012


1.0 Introduction 

With the discovery of viable Oil and Gas reserves in the 

Albertine Graben, there is need to streamline and guide on the 

management of waste associated with the various operations 

necessary for the exploitation of these resources. This waste is 

generated by the exploration and production activities as well 

as from the associated activities like base camps. The Albertine 

Graben is coincidentally very rich in biodiversity and is also home 

to very sensitive ecosystems wherefore the proper management 

of waste from the petroleum activities is of vital importance. 

Unlike the drilling and production waste, it is imperative that 

all other wastes generated from the various activities in the oil 

and gas sector are disposed of in accordance with the relevant 

provisions of the National Environment (Waste Management) 

Regulations. As a precautionary interim measure, the drilling 

waste has been securely consolidated at designated locations 

in the Graben while characterisation assessments were being 

undertaken to determine the best and most acceptable disposal 

methodology that could be adopted. 

As the industry progresses from the exploration into the 

production phase, waste generation shall exponentially increase 

hence the urgent need for safe and cost effective waste 

management options. 

Building on the various scientific analyses done on the waste 

in addition to other environmental management studies and 

tools such as the Sensitivity Atlas, the environmental monitoring 

indicators and in consultation with regulatory agencies on the 

Environmental pillar for the management of Oil and Gas 

activities, these guidelines have thus been developed.

2.0 Guiding principles 


Section 53(2) of the National Environment Act Cap 153, 

mandates the Authority to issue guidelines for proper 

management of wastes. However, according to Section 52 

of the National Environment Act Cap 153, and the National 

Environment (Waste Management) Regulations, S.I 153-2, the 

primary responsibility for management of waste lies with the 

person or company that has generated the waste. Companies 

generating waste from the various Oil and Gas activities are thus 

liable for any harm or damage to the environment that might 

result from this waste. All reasonable measures and technologies 

will have to be instituted by operators to as much as possible 

in favour of the internationally recognised best practice as 

summarised in the waste management hierarchy illustrated below: 

Most Preferable 

Avoid 

Reduce 

Reuse 

Recycle 

Recover 

Treat 

Dispose 

Least Preferable


In deciding on the most appropriate disposal route, both 

environmental and economic costs and benefits need to be 

considered. This decision should be reached taking into account 

all the costs and impact associated with waste disposal, including 

those associated with the movement of waste. Wherever possible 

the Proximity Principle should be applied. This recognises that 

transporting waste has environmental, social and economic costs 

so as a general rule; waste should be dealt with as near to the place 

of production as possible. This has the added benefit of raising 

awareness about waste and encouraging ownership of the problem 

at the local level. 

3.0 Waste characterisation 

3.1 Nature of the Waste 

Different industries generate a lot of waste that is unique to 

the process or stage that is being undertaken. This waste can be 

solid, liquid, and even gaseous – all which have characteristics 

that need specialised attention for proper disposal and release 

into the environment. 

In addition to components used in additives to aid various 

processes, some naturally occurring materials are also present 

in the waste in both the solid and liquid phases - generally 

referred to as Exploration & Production (E&P) Waste whose 

management challenge is in relation to the safe handling and 

disposal. 

3.2 Chemical Characterisation 

While the waste was being consolidated, government committed 

efforts and resources to the characterisation of waste so as to have 

a proper scientific basis upon which guidelines could be offered 

to the operators. Representative samples of drilling waste from 

various wells were analysed by different laboratories in Uganda, 

Norway, UK, and USA so as to have a thorough understanding

References 81 

of the constituents that could be of greatest threat to human 

and environmental health. The waste has been found to contain 

substances capable of polluting the environment, mainly traces 

of heavy metals in addition to residual hydrocarbons. 

The table below illustrates the spread of the composition 

of selected trace heavy metals as analysed by the different 

laboratories of waste samples from the entire Albertine Graben. 

In the absence of specific Ugandan Standards for solid (soil) 

waste disposal, comparison has been made to those available in 

Canada and the UK. 

Pollutant 

Standards (mg/kg) from other countries 

Arsenic 

Cadmium 

Chromium 

Composition (mg/kg) 

Canada 

(residential/ 

Institutional 

UK 

Agriculture 

Range Average Median use) 

2.11 - 6.92 4.331 4.325 30 

5 3 

0.054 - 2.4 1.392 0.507 

250 

UK 

(Residential 

land use) 

32 

10 

21.1 - 98.8 

54.46 

52.2 

Copper 

24.3 - 86.4 44.152 40.4 

100 80 

Lead 21.3 - 1080 198.57 72 500 300 

Mecury 0.149 - 1.15 0.388 0.301 

2 1 1 

Zinc 

24.6 - 300 

142.54 

133.5 

Nickel 

11.4 - 64 

37.26 

39 

The above analytical results show that the parameter values were 

well within acceptable limits when compared to the standards 

appended above. 

4.0 International practices for oil and gas waste management 

This section focuses on the treatment and disposal methodologies 

and strategies of exploration and production wastes that are

practiced world over together with their pros and cons. These 

wastes handling practices together with analytical scientific 

data on waste characteristics have also guided the guidelines 

development process. 

4.1 Land spreading and farming: This involves diluting cuttings with 

soil and then spreading onto the land. The spreading/applying 

waste on land allows the waste or soil’s naturally occurring 

microbial population to metabolise, transform, and/or assimilate 

organic waste constituents. Land spreading/farming is a simple 

methodology and requires less initial investment costs. It may 

also improve the soil characteristics of the area by adding 

some nutrients. However, this method cannot apply to wastes 

containing significant levels of heavy metals and persistent 

organic compounds; requires large land area for it to be effective; 

needs high technical and financial capability to undertake 

continuous monitoring and chemical tests; and acceptability by 

all stakeholders is not guaranteed. 

4.2 Re-injection of wastes: The wastes are pumped down the disposal 

wells into suitable underground formations. These wells are 

designed to provide an avenue for transporting wastes into 

underground reservoirs without adversely impacting on the 

environment. The disposal formations should be geologically 

and mechanically isolated from the sources of usable water. A 

technically sound completed disposal well has minimal chances 

of cross-contamination. However, it is costly, technically 

demanding, requires adequate subsurface geological and hydro 

geological studies. 

4.3 Stabilisation and solidification: Stabilisation is a method that reduces 

the hazard potential of a waste by converting contaminants 

into their least soluble, mobile, or toxic form. Solidification is a 

technique that makes the pollutants to be encapsulated in a solid 

of high structural integrity. In both cases, pollutants’ potential


toxicity and mobility are reduced by decreasing the surface area 

exposed to leaching and/or by isolating the wastes within an 

impervious capsule. The resultant matrix is either land-filled or 

turned into useful materials like construction materials or used 

as a base in road surfacing. This method has some concerns 

that include: long-term impacts (potential for ground water 

contamination); land disturbance and comprehensive monitoring 

requirements. 

4.4 Bio treatment: This method is used in degrading the organic 

compounds in the Exploration and &Production wastes 

using biological natural processes. In-situ and/or ex-situ 

bioremediation technologies are used in treating Exploration 

&Production wastes. This method is very efficient and cost 

effective in remediation of organic compounds in soil, and water. 

However, it has to be in combination with other methods to get 

rid of other pollutants like heavy metals. 

4.5 Onsite burial: Burial is the placement of waste in man-made or 

natural excavations, such as pits. Burial is the most common 

onshore disposal technique used for disposing of drilling wastes 

(mud and cuttings). Generally, the solids are buried in the same 

pit (the reserve pit) used for collection and temporary storage 

of the waste mud and cuttings after the liquid is allowed to 

evaporate. Pit burial is a low-cost, low-tech method that does 

not require wastes to be transported away from the well site. 

For this method to be effective wastes must first be stabilised 

or else pollutants could migrate from the pit and contaminate 

usable water resources. 

4.6 Thermal treatment: Thermal technologies use high temperatures to 

reclaim or destroy hydrocarbon-contaminated material. Thermal 

treatment is the most efficient treatment for destroying organic 

matter , and it also reduces the volume and mobility of inorganic 

matter such as metals and salts. Additional treatment may be


necessary for metals and salts, depending on the final fate of 

the wastes. Waste streams high in hydrocarbons (typically 10% 

and above), like oil-based mud, are good candidates for thermal 

treatment technology. Thermal treatment can be an interim 

process to reduce toxicity and volume and prepare a waste 

stream for further treatment or disposal (such as landfill, land 

farming, land spreading). 

4.7 Hybrid of methodologies: A combination of methodologies may be 

used to remediate the wastes. 

5.0 Approved guidelines for oil and gas exploration and 

production waste management 

These guidelines are made in reference to National Environment 

Act, Cap 153 which empowers the Executive Director NEMA 

to develop guidelines for proper environmental management. 

Further these guidelines are in line with National Environment 

(Waste Management) Regulations, 1999. 

These guidelines will be used by the oil companies until as 

advised by the Authority and they will apply to the current 

consolidated and future drilling wastes as well as exploration 

associated wastes. 

Unless advised by the Authority, the drilling wastes should be 

handled in the following manner: 

(i) Current consolidated wastes 

(a) The wastes should be stabilised and buried in lined pits at the 

sites of the current storage. The wastes should be covered by 

a liner and the pits leveled to fit the topography of the area 

by backfilling with a top soil. The buffer depth between the 

covering liner and the topography level should be between 

1 to 1.5 meters.


(b) The liquid wastes should be used in the solid waste 

stabilisation process. 

(c) The burial site should be at least 500m away from a usable 

underground or ground water source. 

(d) After leveling, the site should be restored to almost its original 

position by planting indigenous plant species. 

(e) The burial sites shall be geo-referenced. 

(f) Underground water monitoring well on each site should 

be installed and the respective companies shall carry out 

quarterly monitoring of the water from the wells and report 

to the Authority. 

(ii) Future Wastes (Exploration and production wastes) 

(a) In order to reduce the quantities of waste produced and their 

corresponding toxicity, all the chemicals used shall be screened 

and their use monitored closely. Therefore, the companies are 

required to submit an undertaking on the types, quantities and 

purity of chemicals to be used before drilling can be done. 

(b) All companies shall reduce the level of pollution from the 

source through substitution of more toxic chemicals with less 

toxic ones where applicable, and; optimum utilisation of all 

inputs during the operations. 

(c) The exploration companies are required to recycle and re-use 

the oil drilling mud waste. 

(d) The companies are also required to characterise the drilling 

wastes immediately after drilling and submit an analysis 

report to NEMA within a week after completion of the 

drilling activity for authorisation either for onsite burial or for 

transportation to waste treatment and disposal plant.


(e) If the wastes have pollutants that are within the acceptable 

standards, the waste shall be buried on site in lined pits 

otherwise, the waste shall be transported to the central waste 

treatment plant. In the absence of national standards, United 

Kingdom standards for solid disposal have been adopted for 

use until the Ugandan national standards have been developed. 

(f) For production waste, especially produced water shall be 

re-injected back into the underground formations. The Oil 

companies will ensure that the re-injected waste does not 

contaminate usable aquifers and surface water. 

(iii) Associated wastes 

The other wastes associated with exploration and production 

activities shall be managed in accordance with the requirements 

of the National Environment Act, Cap 153 and National Waste 

Management Regulations, 1999. 

DR. Tom O. Okurut 

(Executive Director) 

26th June, 2012

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