Gorilla Permits …..Cancelled!!
April 3rd, 2008
Uganda’s main attraction is the endangered mountain gorilla which is said to share 98.4% of its genes with human beings. Out of the estimated 720 mountain gorillas left in the world, 340 of them are found in the jungles of Bwindi Forest National Park which is also believed to have over 32 groups/families of gorillas.
A family of gorillas is usually made up of approximately 10 to 30 members which include one or two Silverbacks and several juveniles or black backs.
Of all the 32 groups, only four groups have so far been habituated for gorilla tracking in Uganda’s Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks. However two other groups are likely to be open for tourism by the end of this year.
Selling of gorilla permits since the early 1990s has been the solitary responsibility of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) as mandated by an act of parliament. However, recently Uganda Wildlife Authority decided to privatize one of the habituated groups, the Nkuringo family of gorillas. And decided that with effect from August, the buying of Nkuringo gorilla permits will be done through the Uganda Safari Company which is owned by Jonathan Wright.
However this decision taken by UWA to privatise the Nkuringo habituated group has met critism from different tour operators and local communities. According to Dorothy, one of the Uganda’s tour operators, the privatisation of the Nkuringo group is the biggest injustice UWA has done to both tour operators and the residents/locals of Kisoro. This kind of concession was done in bad faith. It is well known that despite gorilla permits being the backbone of our tourism industry, they are also scarce and very competitive. Thus giving the domination of their sale to an individual tour operator is a subordinate we should fight as early as possible, said Dorothy.
At the stakeholders’ meeting convened by UWA at Hotel Equatorial at the end of last year, the Executive Director of UWA was asked to throw more light on this concession. He did not have a clear answer at the time though promised that stakeholders could be called at a later date for an explanation in regard to this move.
At the meeting most Ugandan tour operators established that it’s so absurd that to this day stakeholders have not got any explanation despite the fact that a concession agreement has already been signed between UWA/NCDF and the Uganda Safari Company. There is now a new scramble for our natural resources. There fore if Ugandan tour operators do not fight such tendencies, very soon the whole of Ugandan national parks might be privatized.
Owning a lodge should not be a reason for six of the eight permits to be sold by a single individual/ tour operator. These gorillas are a national resource and should therefore not be tagged to someone because he /she has put up a lodge somewhere.
The privatisation of the Nkuringo habituated group has not only faced criticism from the local tour operators but also different hotels and safari lodges owners have come up to oppose it. Many of the Ugandans have invested in the park and its outskirts. For example Kitandara Tented Camp, Buhoma Community Banda’s and African Pearl Safaris which own lodges in Bwindi currently run as Buhoma Lodge though under the management of G & C. For the last years, non of these investors has ever requested to have or own a family of gorillas. This type of special consideration, though it may have its positive side to UWA, may lead to other investors such as Mr. Amos Wekesa of the famous Primates Lodge Kibale to also request to have control over the sale of chimp permits since he owns a lodge in the Kibale forest national park.
It’s not being against some investors putting up competitive/ luxury / high end lodges. It is in fact a positive thing but they should not dictate over the tourism industry by giving terms such as requesting to monopolize the selling of permits and denying other potential investors from constructing lodges within particular areas.
A competitor in the tour industry can never be fair in selling these permits. The implication of this move is that other stakeholders in Kisoro town; such as Internet cafés, restaurants/hotels and craft sellers among others, will lose business.
This may endanger the gorillas in a way that the locals will not see any benefit in protecting them hence develop a hostile attitude to both the tourists and the gorillas. The industry also stands to lose as a result of this move. Putting into consideration that the tourism industry receives both high end and budget travellers. The budget travellers will stay at Nkuringo Eco Lodge with the high prices that they are due to charge.
The rates have also changed, they will be charging 450 dollars per person per night with a further condition that a minimum of two nights have to be booked. Meaning that a single client will spend 900 dollars on accommodation and an extra 500 dollars on the permit. This however, does not include transport, administrative costs and government tax. This is a thorn to Uganda’s tourism industry since budget clients should be given an opportunity to choose between the high end and budget tour.
This move has already forced tour operators to go in for Rwanda gorilla permits. I do not understand why the planners at UWA / Ministry of Tourism in Uganda do not foresee that such a move will kill gorilla tourism in Uganda as tour operators will have opted to cross the border hence promoting Rwanda tourism over their own.
Tour operators should have a say in how they/ locals of Kisoro/ Kanungu and the surrounding areas can benefit from them!