A unique rhino conservation program in Uganda is helping local communities with an outreach program that recruits for job openings from surrounding villages, teaches job skills, and visits classrooms.
Rhino Fund Uganda is making a difference in the lives of people by integrating local communities with rhino conservation goals and educating them about responsible resource management. Established in 1997 with the objective of reintroducing the Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) to Uganda, RFU has created programs to help the community every step of the way. Recently, RFU celebrated the birth of the first rhino born in Uganda after 27 years of regional extinction – and the baby rhino has been named “Obama.”
Creating employment opportunities and providing job training
In 2002, RFU and Ziwa Ranchers Ltd. created Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (which is open to visitors! ) on seventy square kilometers of land. Instead of outsourcing the fence construction, RFU made sure it was a source of employment for the local community.
The two-meter-high, solar-powered electric fence is designed to keep rhinos inside – and poachers outside. The construction of the fence took nearly a year, and brought many jobs to surrounding communities.
RFU’s community programs are created to increase skills and earning potential in neighboring communities.
Community support projects include:
- Teaching the making of handicrafts that are sold in the sanctuary gift shop – including bead making, weaving, and carving
- Setting up bee keeping/honey producing projects which are sold at local markets
- Organizing drumming and singing groups which perform locally
RFU communicates any job openings to the local villages and provides job training as needed. Approximately half of the people who work at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary have been recruited from the surrounding villages.
Educational programs
Resource management education for adults:
Currently in Uganda, deforestation to make charcoal is a very serious problem. RFU is instructing local people on how to build more fuel-efficient stoves. This project is making an impact by helping to reduce the local demand for charcoal.
Classroom activities and field trips for the kids:
RFU’s education team runs programs for the primary six classes in all of the surrounding schools. The program combines classroom teaching with a visit to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. There is an education center at the sanctuary where the kids do activities – and then they get to meet the rhinos!
Classroom learning tools focus on the following:
- The urgent need to conserve the rhino
- The value of biodiversity in Uganda
- The rhino’s place in local and global ecosystems
- The impact of conservation on the community
- The importance of conservation efforts worldwide
So far, RFU has visited over 200 schools.
Rhino reintroduction program
The Southern White Rhinoceros has been regionally extinct in Uganda since 1982.
Rhino Fund Uganda was established in 1997 as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to fulfill the following objectives and functions:
- To promote the reintroduction of rhinoceros to protected areas within Uganda
- To promote breeding programs to ensure the long term viability of reintroduced rhinoceros populations in Uganda
- To establish programs in conjunction with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), district governments and local communities to ensure the protection of the rhinoceros populations from poaching
- To conduct education programs about the endangered rhinoceros
- To build national support for the protection of rhinoceros populations in Uganda
- To conduct fund raising campaigns and generate funds in support of translocation, protection, and management of the reintroduced rhinoceros populations
A security force of 25 rangers and askaris patrol the fence, guard the gates, and monitor the rhinos 24 hours per day. The sanctuary is currently in process of becoming a game reserve, in which rhinos and other species of wildlife can be encountered, highlighting Uganda’s unique biodiversity and emphasizing the importance of conserving it. There are over 20 species of mammals already living in the sanctuary and their numbers are increasing.
RFU is working toward a future in which there is a sustainable rhino population in Uganda. Currently, there are six adult rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary – and more babies are on the way!
Image source: “Baby Rhino Obama” image used with the permission of Rhino Fund Uganda.
About Rhishja Cota-Larson
This is a fantastic project in a beautiful country, i only hope that the 25 askaris grow to love their rhinos with the passion it will need to protect them from the poachers gun