The Great Primate Handshake – Volunteer in Africa, working to conserve monkeys and apes through film and educational content production

The Bigodi Wetlands

“We are using tourism as a tool to aid conservation and community development.”

Tinka, KAFRED program manager

KAFRED (Kibale Association For Rural and Environmental Development) was set up in 1992 to educate the local community about eco-tourism and instigate a system where part of the income generated by visitors to the Bigodi wetlands would be invested back into community development. Over the last 17 years, the villagers have reaped the many rewards of KAFRED’s original vision.

In 1990 there were only 2 houses in the village and now there are too many to count. There has also been a new secondary school built with the revenue that tourism has brought to the area. Previously, the nearest school was in Fort Portal. There were only two buses per day and, if you missed them, it meant a 7 hour walk home.

The awareness of the income that can be generated through tourists coming to see the wildlife in the wetlands has fundamentally altered people’s attitudes to animals and the forest. Tinka told us that local children do not throw stones at birds or monkeys anymore. Similarly, despite the community not understanding the significance of the forest as an ecosystem and its role in water filtration and controlling floods,  they can appreciate its value as a tourist attraction and so strive to conserve it.

Although KAFRED focus on using tourism to encourage people to support conservation, they do also educate the local population on the inherent need for conserving rural Uganda. KAFRED are partnered with the North Carolina Zoo through a program called “Unite” which sends teacher trainers to Uganda to show the teachers here different ways of educating children about conservation.

KAFRED also work with the Kyanyawara Cultural Group to promote conservation. KAFRED can go to the group and ask them to write a song or create a dance or play about a conservational issue that is currently pertinent. KAFRED are also currently planning to show educational films, free of charge, to members of the local community. They have already purchased some documentaries from the National Geographic. However, many of these relate to conservational issues in the arctic and other places utterly removed from the immediate experiences of the locals. Gaynor suggested that there might be a place for an adult educational film focusing on local species – a proposal which Tinka accepted with alacrity.