In 1999 JGI Uganda
and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) began a
four-year program in collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife
Authority (UWA) and the Uganda Forest Department (UFD)
to evaluate the status of wild chimpanzee populations
throughout Uganda. The objectives of the census were:
to assess the chimpanzee population size in different
forests; to assess the distribution of chimpanzees within
forests in order to identify areas of high conservation
importance; to assess the status of other primates and
large mammals; and to evaluate the threats to the forests
and their inhabitants. Measuring the extent of forest
cover was also an aim of the project. An analysis of
the satellite images of the forests in western Uganda
has shown that about 309 square miles (800 sq. km.)
of forest has been lost for chimpanzee range in Uganda
since the late 1980s, although most has occurred outside
of protected areas.
It is recommended that the Uganda Wildlife Authority
(UWA) develop a policy that will address the status
of chimpanzees outside protected areas. This policy
is currently in the process of being developed by the
National GRASP (Great Ape Survival Project) committee.
There was also a recommendation that a policy be developed
for the gallery forests that may act as corridors between
major forest blocks. In future this issue will be addressed
by the United Nations Development Program/Global Environment
Facility’s Albertine Rift project.
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