The Jane Goodall Institute Uganda / Budongo Ecotourism Development Project, Uganda

Finalist, Conservation Award

The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is an international non-profit organisation that has been active in Uganda since 1996. The Budongo Ecotourism Development Project (BEDP) was established in partnership with JGI and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) in 2006. The Budongo Forest Reserve, which is under the jurisdiction of the NFA is situated in north western Uganda and home to a substantial chimpanzee population of significant biodiversity importance.

The goal of the BEDP is to conserve biodiversity by reducing threats to the forest, woodlands and aquatic ecosystems through increased economic opportunities and conflict resolution for rural communities in selected areas around the Budongo Forest Reserve. In so doing, an agreement between JGI and NFA outlines each party's responsibilities including the establishment of a financial committee that will direct all profits from tourism activity to areas deemed a priority for the protection of the Budongo Forest Reserve. This includes conservation education in communities adjacent to Budongo Forest; increased monitoring and law enforcement for the Forest Reserve; and community development programmes.

The BEDP employs 24 staff, 92% of which are local and contributes to indirect employment in adjacent communities through commissioning a vegetable garden for the lodge and outsourcing its laundry services. BEDP hosts 5,000 guests annually in its ecologically-friendly constructed lodge. It adheres to the principles of Great Ape Tourism set out by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and has established policies and procedures that have been replicated across different nature reserves in Uganda.
The project contributes directly to forest protection through recruitment, training, equipment and employment of local community members, thus providing an alternative sustainable livelihood for the adjacent forest communities to illegal logging of this 852 km2 mahoganies and savannah grass- and woodland.