The Nature Facility has provided an analysis to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the British High Commission in Kampala to identify priority landscapes for future nature programming in Uganda and potential effective intervention models in those landscapes. The study scopes needs and opportunities, with a focus on biodiversity hotspots and community involvement.
Background
Uganda is renowned for its rich biodiversity. However, its growing population and high poverty rates are driving encroachment into protected areas and other biodiverse landscapes, leading to habitat destruction, human-wildlife conflict, spread of zoonotic diseases and over-exploitation of natural resources.
In this challenging context, the need for sustainable development practices that balance human needs with conservation efforts is critical.
The report will inform a new programme concept in Uganda: Community Resilience and Natural Environment (CRANE). Through CRANE, the FCDO intends to deliver development and nature win-wins – through local leadership, local poverty alleviation and development and institutional reform.
What did the Nature Facility do?
The Nature Facility has provided a scoping study that maps and analyses existing and pipeline conservation projects in priority landscapes and the various conservation models being used.
The study identifies a long list of priority sites for biodiversity conservation. In the potential CRANE programme, the FCDO intends to fund activities at a landscape-level. As such, the study groups the identified sites into landscapes, defining them through a combination of administrative and ecological boundaries.
It then presents an analysis of the landscapes in terms of their biodiversity value, needs and potential for community livelihood development, and opportunities for effective programming, based on a mapping of existing initiatives.
The report presents a table of recommended intervention areas and approaches for the FCDO to consider in the shortlisted landscapes, along with a list of other actors operating in similar areas in the landscapes. Finally, the report recommends priority areas for further research.
Authors: Andrew Panton and Dui Jasinghe