CHARITY FOUNDER
MICHAEL KEIGWIN
Ò Our aim at UCF has always been to help these communities help themselves. By getting stuck in on the
ground weÕ ve found that we can assist by setting up projects that help local communities and local wildlife co-exist. Our job is to firstly work with these communities to protect their livelihoods, generate
development and create new opportunities for employment and sustainability in fisheries, agriculture and tourism. Once the regions are more stable at a local economic level we quickly find that this solves many of the inherent
problems in terms of wildlife populations and wildlife habitat erosion. The goal is to give these communities a very real pride in their region and its natural beauty. For us this is the most natural solution and itÕ s shown to work.Ó
rates in farmers and illiteracy levels within their young, spurred Michael into finding a solution. For Michael it seemed that the way out of this destructive cycle would be to set up funded projects which would help farmers co-exist with the local wildlife. The original idea was so simple it was verging on genius. Michael worked with the local communities and rangers to set up a series of projects involving digging trenches and erecting fencing around the farmland. The elephants didn’t cross the trenches and the crops were kept safe from damage. The project was an enormous success and over 30km of 2mx2m trenches have been dug since, along with thirteen elephant fences. Park communities now work together with rangers, crop yields have been increased and so have elephant numbers.
Since the success of the elephant and crops projects, UCF has continued to work with other communities across Uganda to set up and assist with a variety of conservation projects. Until four years ago there were no active rangers or patrols in the region. This left it vulnerable to illegal fishing, poaching and ivory smuggling. Hippo poaching was a major problem and in 2006 the animal appeared for the first time on the IUCN Red List as a species threatened with extinction. Local fishermen were seeing reduced catches as illegal fishing with smaller gauge nets became rife and younger fish stock were being caught. The Waterways Project has set up a series of boat stations across Queen Elizabeth with rangers to patrol the waterways. The introduction of rangers to the area has forced poachers to move their transportation back to the more hazardous roadways, which, in turn, leaves them open to capture by the authorities. Fish stocks in these waterways are vital to the local economies and, in turn, hippos are equally vital as their dung provides a food source for the fish.
Last year UCF completed the construction of a fourth ranger station and continues to expand this network of rangers. Local fishermen are starting to see small increases in catches but there is still a great deal of work to be done. The rangers also provide an invaluable service to local communities; fishermen have been saved from drowning and sick people have been ferried in boats for medical treatment. It’s almost impossible to count the number of lives which may have been saved by this project, but accountability is a key issue for the
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