Creating Corridors for Chimpanzee Conservation

This report considers chimpanzee conservation efforts within the Bugoma-Budonga Corridor in Western Uganda’s Albertine Rift. Section 1 offers conservation practitioners and policy-makers an introductory review of conservation corridor theory. Section 2 summarises Ugandan policy on chimpanzee corridors, and then discusses the rapidly changing situation within the Bugoma-Budonga Corridor. In Section 3 we compile knowledge from unpublished mapping and scoping studies (including socio-economic surveys) that led to reforestation efforts. These had some success, yet have faced overwhelming external pressures. Although useful knowledge has been gained, a wider approach is urgently needed.

Section 4 examines potential ways forward, including purchase/lease of land for conservation, collective land titling to incentivise reforestation, and using existing legislation to manage land alongside waterways.