After the long COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, I got an opportunity to
join 6 days hiking expenditure from Kampala to Rwenzori Mountains National Park along with a team of 10 tourists from 8 different counties
(Nepal, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, San Salvador, Germany, and
Belgium).
The Rwenzori Mountains National Park is located at Rwenzori Mountain
in Ugandan and is recoznized as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Having an area of 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi),
the park has many other touristic
plase such as Africa's third highest mountain peak, waterfalls, lakes, and glaciers. The park is known for its beautiful plant life. The highest peak
of the Ruwenzori is 5,109 meters (16,762 ft) high, and the range's upper
regions are permanently snow-capped and glaciated. Rivers fed by mountain streams form one of the sources of
the Nile (Wikipedia).
The 4 days hiking trip were managed by Rwenzori Mountaineering
Services (RMS) and Ruboni Community Camp (RCC), which is situated at the
gateway of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park. The RCC is fully owned and run
by the community, where all profits go to the local community. RMS/RCC
provided tour guides, porters, chefs, and medical nurses which includes a total
of 32 support members from the community. The participation of the local
community in tourism management is an important aspect of building ownership
and to contribute towards tourism sustainability. My professional eyes heading
to some simple observation and my own analytical lean go to community
mobilization, employment, economic impact, contribution to the livelihood, and
community ownerships. Well, I paid $473 for my tour service apart from other
expenses for 4 days in the park. Tentatively, I cross-checked, how it was
distributed in different connections and services provided at the local level. The
above calculation is based on my informal information and estimation.
I am from Nepal, a country of Himalayas and the birthplace of
Lord Buddha, where several such national parks and touristic destinations are
located. I visited a few of them such as,
Khaptad national park, Bardiya National Park, Sauraha National Park, and Suklaphat National
Park. I was not much aware of the relationship between local people and wildlife
authority I mean at a micro-level benefits sharing mechanism. However, I was a
witness of such a wonderful resource sharing relationship between community and wildlife. Apparently, as a
tourist and as an observer, I have dared
to capture some notes:
- Community participation, ownership, awareness, and adoptive relationship with Uganda Wildlife Authority (WUA), Rwenzori Mountains National Park. I.e. use of different resources, maintenance, and waste management, and cleaning.
- Local-level
employment creation (average $4.17/day excluding tips and RCC profit) – a
minimum of around 100 days/year employment in normal time. Community-level
benefits from wildlife – around 120 train tour guides, 1500 porters, 40 cafes
are directly involved with the local community. Additional involvement from
local level – professional chefs and medical nurses.
- Participation
of local-level service providers both community based and entrepreneurs, we
paid our entry fee through a service provider and all tour coordination through
local-level institutions called Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS).
Thank you Adrian Ouvry, Jan Bakker, and all team members for making a memorable and joyful trip.
Chiranjibi, 27 July 2020
