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Featured: Budongo Forest Research Project, Advisor: Prof. Vernon Reynolds Bundongo Forest, Uganda

 
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Chimpanzee field station and research

Since its inception in 1990, Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) has blended research and conservation to ensure sustainable management and utilization of the Budongo Forest Reserve. They generate world-class scientific research on primates. The Budongo Forest is one of the most important sites for chimp data and research and forest ecology and local community use of the forest resources.

WildiZe provided funds for specific research on one of the most significant endangered chimpanzee populations. Fields of study included:

  • Information on chimpanzee communities, habitat, food and  migration
  • Anti-poaching resources and campaigns
  • Local population demands on the forest
  • Problems  of crop raiding by forest species
  • Community conservation awareness programmes
  • Human and environment conflicts resolution

Specific research has included forest ecology, census information on chimpanzee communities, data collection of habitat, environment, migration, food and human and environmental conflicts.

Our funding has provided resources for anti-poaching campaigns for meat protection, facilitating poaching reporting within local communities, education on black market trade routes, and long standing field research site (19+years).

IN THE NEWS! Decaying Palm trees provide a source of sodium for wild chimpanzees...

The BCFS was founded by Dr Vernon Reynolds in 1990. At that time it was called the Budongo Forest Project. Dr Reynolds had first studied chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest in 1962 and written a book about the forest and its chimpanzees

During the 1970s and 1980s two major civil wars raged in Uganda, with a complete breakdown of law and order across the country. In 1998 Dr Reynolds read a report in the New Vision, the main Ugandan newspaper, to the effect that chimpanzee infants were being captured in Budongo Forest, taken to Entebbe airport, and smuggled out to wealthy pet-owners in Dubai and other places.

After a year seeking funds he returned to Uganda in March 1990 and, together with Chris Bakuneeta, established a base at Budongo from which to discover whether there were still chimpanzees in the forest.

In 2007, largely thanks to the hard work of Fred Babweteera, the Budongo Forest Project achieved the status of a Ugandan NGO and was re-named the Budongo Conservation Field Station.

Today, BCFS makes contributions to the life of the surrounding community, liaise with and assist local Government authorities, and conserves the Budongo Forest and its wildlife, notably the chimpanzees. They accept volunteers and students from Uganda and worldwide.

Project web site: www.Budongo.org


Uganda takes its name from the BugandaBuganda kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital KampalaKampala.. Situated at the geographical heart of the African continent, Uganda has long been a cultural melting pot, as evidenced by the 30-plus different indigenous languages belonging to five distinct linguistic groups, and an equally diverse cultural mosaic of music, art and handicrafts. The country’s most ancient inhabitants, confined to the hilly southwest, are the Batwa and Bambuti Pygmies, relics of the hunter-gatherer cultures that once occupied much of East Africa.Situated at the geographical heart of the African continent, Uganda has long been a cultural melting pot, as evidenced by the 30-plus different indigenous languages belonging to five distinct linguistic groups, and an equally diverse cultural mosaic of music, art and handicrafts. The country’s most ancient inhabitants, confined to the hilly southwest, are the Batwa and Bambuti Pygmies, relics of the hunter-gatherer cultures that once occupied much of East Africa.

At the cultural core of modern-day Uganda lie the Bantu-speaking kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro,t the cultural core of modern-day Uganda lie the Bantu-speaking kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole and Toro, whose traditional monarchs – reinstated in the 1990s after having been abolished by Ankole and Toro, whose traditional monarchs – reinstated in the 1990s after having been abolished by President Milton Obote in 1967 – still serve as important cultural figureheads.President Milton Obote in 1967 – still serve as important cultural figureheads. According to oral tradition, these centuries-old kingdoms areAccording to oral tradition, these centuries-old kingdoms are offshoots of the mediaeval kingdoms of Batembuzi and Bacwezi, which lay in the vicinity of present-day Mubende and Ntusi, where archaeological evidence suggests that a strongly centralised polity had emerged by the 11th century. Three former kings of Buganda are buried in an impressive traditional thatched building at the Kasubi Tombs in Kampala. offshoots of the mediaeval kingdoms of Batembuzi and Bacwezi, which lay in the vicinity of present-day Mubende and Ntusi, where archaeological evidence suggests that a strongly centralised polity had emerged by the 11th century. Three former kings of Buganda are buried in an impressive traditional thatched building at the Kasubi Tombs in Kampala.

Uganda’s cultural diversity is boosted in the northeast by the presence of the Karimojong, traditional pastoralists whose lifestyle and culture is reminiscent of the renowned Maasai, and in the northwest by a patchwork of agricultural peoples whose Nilotic languages and cultures are rooted in what is now Sudan. Uganda’s cultural diversity is boosted in the northeast by the presence of the Karimojong, traditional pastoralists whose lifestyle and culture is reminiscent of the renowned Maasai, and in the northwest by a patchwork of agricultural peoples whose Nilotic languages and cultures are rooted in what is now Sudan.

The Rwenzori foothills are home to the hardy Bakonjo,The Rwenzori foothills are home to the hardy Bakonjo, whose hunting shrines are dedicated to a one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed pipe-smoking spirit known as Kalisa, while the Bagisu of the Mount Elgon region are known for their colourful Imbalu ceremony whose hunting shrines are dedicated to a one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed pipe-smoking spirit known as Kalisa, while the Bagisu of the Mount Elgon region are known for their colourful Imbalu ceremony

For more information please see our Young Conservationist for Fun Facts!

© Photographs Courtesy of BCFS, Uganda Tourist Board, WildiZe


FAST FACTS:

BUDONGO FOREST

Download a map of the Budongo Forest (pdf)

The Budongo Forest is a moist, semi-deciduous tropical rain forest located at the top of the Albertine Rift, situated between 1° 37 N - 2° 03 N and 31° 22 - 31° 46 E. It is classified as a Central Forest Reserve and comprises 435 km² of continuous forest cover, which is large by Ugandan standards. In addition there are numerous strips of riverine forest, perhaps some 100 km in total, forming arms of forest that stretch out into the surrounding areas, mainly sugar cane plantations and other cropland

The forest is of a medium altitude (average 1,100m). The land slopes from southeast to northwest, and its four main rivers, the Waisoke, the Sonso, the Kamirambwa and the Siba, flow towards the northwest towards the Albertine Rift.

Annual rainfall varies between about 1200 and 2200 mm (average 1600 mm). Most rain falls between March and May and between September and November with a dry season between December and February. At this time, the daytime heat can be substantial, food supply is low, and chimpanzees spend much time on the forest floor in deep shade. In general, however, temperatures are relatively even during the year varying between 19°C and 32°C.


 


UGANDA

Bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania

Consistently ranked among Africa’s fastest growing economies since President Museveni came to power in 1986, Uganda has simultaneously experienced a steady expansion of road, communications and other vital infrastructures

A star attraction is the endangered mountain gorilla, the bulkiest of living primates, and among the most peaceable who share 95% of their genes with humans. Fewer than 700 individuals survive, divided between Bwindi National Park and the Virunga Mountains. Within Uganda, five habituated gorilla troops – four in Bwindi and one in Mgahinga National Park.