Kidepo
Tucked into Uganda’s northernmost boundary with Kenya and South Sudan, the Kidepo landscape has more than 30 protected and conserved areas, including three national parks. At approximately 136,000 square kilometers, it is one of the region’s most intact conservation landscapes. Challenges include human-wildlife conflict, climate change, agricultural expansion, livestock encroachment, gold and oil extraction, infrastructure development, and poaching.
Our partner communities are spread across 956 square kilometers of community wildlife areas and six districts—Karenga, Kaabong, Abim, Kotido, Kitgum, and Agago—meaning we reach 370,000 people over 9,500 square kilometers.
Our conservation work in this vital landscape includes:
- Empowering communities through training and microenterprise
- Enhancing climate change adaptation and resilience
- Mitigating human-wildlife conflict and implementing species recovery and action plans
- Promoting sustainable land management through conservancies and collaborative land-use planning
- Equipping rangers and providing training in ecological monitoring, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and wildlife law enforcement
- Empowering youth through environmental education and awareness
AWF in Action
Engaging youth in conservation
In Kidepo Valley, students used to walk up to ten kilometers to school. In 2021, we opened two new schools right in those students’ communities. Our Classroom Africa program gives students the chance to learn about conservation and see it in action through park visits.
Equipping rangers for the field
Often, the biggest barrier for rangers is the most mundane: not having simple supplies like boots and water bottles. We support the Uganda Wildlife Authority with the equipment they need so they can focus on protecting biodiversity. During COVID-19, the need for equipment was especially dire.
Integrating communities and conservation
With our support, the Uganda Wildlife Authority created Uganda’s first conservancies, including the Karenga Community Wildlife Area in the Kidepo landscape. Today we serve as technical advisors for conservancy managers and help with various needs such as training in natural-resource management and tourism operations.
Negotiating space for people and wildlife
To ease human-wildlife conflict, we support farmers and train community wildlife scouts in conflict prevention and mitigation techniques.
Restoring biodiversity hotspots to empower communities
Our holistic approach in Uganda integrates sustainable agricultural enterprise, projects that address human-wildlife conflict, conservancy support and development, and conservation education.
We work with the people of Uganda for wildlife. Our strategic, implementing and funding partners include:
Wildlife We Are Protecting
By the Numbers
80 Community wildlife scouts trained in biological monitoring
80,000 Liters of fuel given to Uganda Wildlife Authority for Kidepo protected-area patrols
2K+ Students served by two schools that AWF built in the Kidepo landscape