By Samson Okot
Uganda has made substantial strides in harmonizing the development of its oil and gas sector with the conservation of its rich biodiversity, particularly in the ecologically sensitive Albertine Graben region. By implementing robust policies and legal frameworks, such as the National Oil and Gas Policy and the National Environment Act of 2019, the country has laid a foundation for sustainable resource development. Advanced technologies, including cableless seismic data acquisition and wildlife-friendly equipment, have been employed to minimize environmental footprints. Comprehensive habitat mapping and species-specific surveys further inform effective mitigation strategies, ensuring that the project progresses alongside environmental conservation.
Despite these efforts, communities around Murchison Falls National Park and some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have continued to link increased Human-Wildlife Conflicts (HWC), particularly those involving elephants to petroleum activities within the park. They claim these conflicts have led to greater loss of life, injuries, and crop damage. Additionally, some community members attribute the rise in conflicts to elephant overpopulation in the Murchison Falls Protected Area (including Murchison Falls National Park, Karuma Wildlife Reserve, and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve), suggesting solutions like elephant culling, similar to practices in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Before adopting strategies from countries like Namibia and Zimbabwe, which are culling wildlife including elephants to address human-wildlife conflict (HWC), it is essential to understand Uganda’s situation. Notably, in the 1970s and early 1980s, the elephant population in the Murchison Falls Protected Area, drastically declined from about 12,000 to around 300 due to lawlessness and increased poaching. Following legal reforms and the establishment of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in 1996, conservation efforts focused on restocking and rebuilding the elephant population through improved law enforcement, translocation, and combating illegal wildlife activities. These efforts have led to a steady recovery of the elephant population, with the Murchison Falls Protected Area (MFPA) reaching approximately 15,000 elephants by 2016 (UWA 2016), a range that has been observed in the 2023 wildlife census.
Regarding the concerns of linking Human-Elephant Conflicts (HEC) to petroleum activities in Murchison Falls National Park, the oil and gas sector has been monitoring elephant movement/ranging patterns and stress levels since 2013. Fifteen elephants, representing 15 herds, have been fitted with GPS tracking devices (elephant collars). The data from the monitoring show no significant impact of petroleum activities on elephant ranging patterns, with the elephants continuing to use the park and preferring habitats within the Tilenga project area. The stress levels, measured by quantifying faecal cortisol metabolites, remain consistent with pre-oil development levels, indicating insignificant disturbance from petroleum activities.
Further, despite the growth in the MFPA elephant population, it remains below the 1960s baseline and has not exceeded the park’s ecological capacity. The rise in Human-Elephant Conflicts may be attributed to factors unrelated to oil and gas activities, such as increased human population, farming near park boundaries, and land use changes. For instance, some of the former game reserves and wildlife dispersal routes, have been degazetted for settlement and used for farming. These have disrupted traditional migratory routes, leading elephants into conflict zones.
The above notwithstanding, the UWA, in partnership with the oil and gas sector and other stakeholders, continues to implement several measures to mitigate HEC, including electric fencing, elephant trenches, non-palatable plants, beehive projects, wildlife scout training, and community outreach. Additional strategies, such as habitat modification and creating buffer zones along park boundaries, are also being explored.
The Author is an Environment Officer, Biodiversity at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda