The ecology of Kibale Forest

Kibale National Park was first gazetted in 1932 and formally established in 1993 to protect a large area of forest previously managed as a logged forest reserve.

At its southern end it borders Queen Elizabeth National Park, the two forming a continuous protected area almost 200 km in length.

The forest is surrounded by scenic shamba (small scale) farmland which is extensively pocked by dramatic volcanic craters, many containing scenic lakes. Agriculture in the area also includes some larger commercial banana and tea plantations.

one of the oldest reserves in East Africa

Kibale National Forest lies at altitudes between 1100 and 1600 metres, dominated by moist evergreen forest, but also containing a diverse range of subtly different moist evergreen and semi-deciduous forest ecosystems, including the last significant expanse of pre-montane forest in East Africa.

The forest is made up of 229 species of trees, with an understory of shade-tolerant shrubs, herbs, ferns and broad leaf grasses.

The reserve has one of the highest diversity and concentrations of primates in Africa, with thirteen species including chimpanzees, Ugandan red colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, Uganda grey-cheeked mangabeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, red colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, olive baboons, bushbabies and pottos.

Other mammals include elephants, red duikers, blue duikers, bushbucks, sitatungas, bushpigs, giant forest hogs, common warthogs, and African buffaloes, plus carnivores including leopards, African golden cats, servals, mongooses and otters. Lions are thought to be occasional visitors only.

The park hosts 325 listed bird species, including olive long-tailed cuckoos, western tinker birds, African pittas, green-breasted pittas, grey parrots and ground thrushes.

the usual tropical forest extreme biodiversity

Kibale Forest faces a number of pressing conservation challenges.

The first is that logging, both legal and illegal, continues to take place within the boundaries of the reserve. This may come as some surprise to those of us who thought the whole point of a national park was to prevent this kind of activity.

It seems to be politically difficult for outside agencies to pressurise the Ugandan authorities to outlaw such activities and instead efforts have concentrated on research projects into the impact of logging on forest ecosystems and primates. A middle ground proposal is that heavy logging of areas be reduced to more selective logging, from which the forest and its animals can more easily recover.

The other challenge comes from encroachment on the forest and its resources by people living in the immediate surrounding areas. Since 1920 the human population in this area has multiplied by seven times. Many of these people use the forest to saw timber, gather firewood, burn charcoal and collect honey. Efforts are presently being made to educate and assist local people to meet their needs in a more sustainable way. Again it would seem desirable for the Uganda Wildlife Authority to also increase the levels of protection for the reserve against this kind of incursion.

providing sanctuary for chimpanzees

One amusing but rather tragic story is that of the wild coffee project which was initiated here in 1999 with the intention of harvesting this natural crop for sale to premium and artisan coffee companies. The hope was that revenues could be used to subsidise conservation in the area.

Substantial funding of USD 750,000 was provided by the Ford Foundation and the World Bank Global Environment Facility, production was established and organic certification obtained.

Unfortunately it was then discovered that the Robusta species of coffee that grows here is a lot less attractive than the Arabica variety and the crops were turned down by coffee distributors. There was simply no market for the product and the whole project came to nothing.

pouring money down the drain