Engage children in conservation

Pupils visiting the giraffe enclosure. Photo by Dominic Bukenya

What you need to know:

For the love of nature: The young generation are being encouraged to take an interest in nature and wildlife to boost conservation efforts.

Conservation education is at the centre of delivering the conservation message to the public to ensure that Uganda’s heritage is not destroyed, but rather used sustainably for socio-economic transformation. The message was carried in a speech by the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Prof Ephraim Kamuntu at the launch of Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Act-2015 and Children Conservation Education Booklet for Uganda on July 15.

He said, “In recognition of the critical role UWEC will play in the transformation of Uganda, Government transformed UWEC from a trust institution into a fully-fledged statutory body through enactment of the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre Act, 2015, effectively giving the centre mandate to be the lead agency for conservation education throughout Uganda. ”He challenged the centre and called upon conservation partners for support in ensuring that conservation education reaches every corner of Uganda and beyond.

Project primary schools
Africa Wildlife Foundation (AWF) partnered with UWEC last year to engage primary school children around Murchison Falls National Park, targeting over 5000 primary school pupils in the 14 parishes of Koch, Goma and Alero sub-counties.
“The pupils in the targeted schools undertook several projects, including environment essay writing, debates and 35 best performers were selected and hosted for three nights at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre for a conservation awareness camp,” Chief of Party, Usaid-Uganda Biodiversity Programme, Sam Mwandha, explained.

The pupils followed the life of staff at the centre with the main focus on the elephants, which are the main cause of human-wildlife conflict in Murchison Falls National Park, especially in the targeted sub-counties of Alero and Koch-Goma, Nwoya district. The group was also joined by five teachers, a community wildlife scouts’ representative and UWA’s Community Conservation Ranger.
The conservation awareness programme aims at engaging the primary school children and their teachers around Murchison Falls Ntional Park in exploring and understanding elephant conservation and other environmental issues in depth and imparts.

Music dance and drama
At the launch, pupils from Green Hill Academy and other schools, performed skits about the importance of conservation. They also took part in a quiz during which they answered questions to test their knowledge about animals and their behaviour. Winners got signed copies of the books by the minister, as well as a handshake and photography opportunity.
From its earlier efforts, AWF noted that there was need for additional materials to engage the children in conservation activities and provide additional information on the wildlife they may observe in the parks and at the Centre.

Mwandha adds, “On Uwec’s request, AWF therefore, supported the development of the children’s activity book that will be launched by the US Ambassador and the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities today. It is our belief that the activity book will go a long way in encouraging children to love nature and be its ambassadors even when they are grown up. The Holy Bible, indeed, teaches us to train children in the way they should go so that when they are old, they will not turn away.”
The 3,000 copies of a standard and engaging guidebook produced will be used by over 80,000 students that visit the centre annually.

A mandate
“Today is very historic to Uwec because we are gathered here to launch the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Act and the Children Conservation Education Booklet for Uganda. UWEC more than 300, 000 visitors each year, 60% of whom are school children, a significant number that we are very proud of but also working hard to grow it,” James Musinguzi, the Uwec’s Executive Director, said at the launch.
The new law, among other mandates, bestows the responsibility of carrying out conservation education in Uganda on Uwec. Musinguzi observed that one of the greatest challenges of environment conservation in Uganda today is lack of awareness about conservation issues and sorting out this issue is an enormous challenge.

“Rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured and distressed wildlife is another mandate as well as captive breeding of endangered wildlife species. As Uwec, we are ready for the new challenges,” he added.
Uwec is a member of international bodies, including the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA), where Musinguzi serves on the conservation and sustainability committee, a member of the Pan African Association of Zoos and Aquaria.

If you go
Special tourism products
• Cheetah walks, Giraffe feeding, Elephant walks, Shoe Bill Greeting, Rhino petting, Chimpanzee feeding, Fishing, Boat rides among others

Costs
Special tourism products
• Adults are charged
Shs10,000 while children are charged
Shs5,000.
• For education trips, on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesday, a child pays Shs4,000 and teachers/adults pay
Shs10,000. For every 20 pupils, a teacher enters free of charge.
• Foreigners working in Uganda pay Shs20,000.
• Foreign tourists pay US$10 or Shs30,000.