By Flavia Ajok
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has installed more than 141 kilometres of electric fencing around Murchison Falls National Park in an effort to curb persistent attacks by elephants, buffaloes and other wild animals on communities in neighbouring districts.
The fencing is being installed in areas of Buliisa, Nwoya, Masindi, Kiryandongo and Oyam, districts that have for years experienced crop destruction, injuries and deaths resulting from wildlife entering human settlements and farmland.
Wilson Kagoro, the UWA Conservation Education Officer at Murchison Falls National Park, said 41 kilometres of fencing has been completed in Buliisa, with another seven kilometres still under installation.
In Nwoya, 78 kilometres have been completed, while work is ongoing on another five kilometres.
Installation is also underway in Masindi and Kiryandongo, with five kilometres being covered in each district, while 15 kilometres have been completed in Oyam.
He said the fencing is intended to create a physical barrier between wildlife and communities and reduce encounters that have increasingly threatened lives and livelihoods.
Kagoro said the intervention is particularly important for communities living close to the park, where wildlife incursions have resulted in destruction of crops and property, injuries and loss of lives.
He said reducing such encounters will also help UWA protect wildlife by limiting the movement of animals into areas occupied by people.
However, the fencing project faces challenges, including unclear boundaries between the national park and neighbouring communities. Kagoro said UWA must first engage communities in areas where boundaries are disputed before installing the fence. He added that waterlogged areas have also made it difficult to open access routes for transporting fencing materials.
Despite the challenges, he said UWA intends to eventually cover the entire 433-kilometre boundary of Murchison Falls National Park.
For communities living along the park boundary, the intervention comes after years of complaints over wildlife attacks.
Kamanda Kabagambe, the LC3 Chairperson of Buliisa Sub-county, said wildlife attacks and crop destruction have reduced in areas where fencing has already been installed.
He, however, urged UWA to speed up the remaining work, particularly in areas that continue to experience incursions by elephants and buffaloes.The conflict has had a significant human and economic cost.
