The government has pledged to work with the Uganda Wildlife Authority to educate communities living near wildlife reserves on how to prevent conflicts with wild animals.
Minister of State for Tourism Susan Nakawuki made the commitment following concerns raised in Parliament over elephants destroying crops, attacking residents and causing deaths in communities bordering protected areas.
Hon. Patrick Ogwang Obura, Member of Parliament for Oyam County South Constituency, said communities in areas bordering wildlife reserves, particularly Kumbine and Kambini sub-counties, face frequent elephant invasions that destroy crops and threaten human life.
He said residents who attempt to chase elephants away sometimes end up being attacked and killed, leaving families traumatised and struggling to recover from crop losses.
Obura commended Parliament’s Committee on Tourism for investigating the matter and recommending measures to address human-wildlife conflict.
He called for faster compensation for victims, including families whose crops are destroyed and those who lose loved ones in wildlife attacks. He also urged UWA to work closely with communities and distinguish residents responding to animal invasions from suspected poachers.
The MP welcomed electric fencing in some areas, saying it had helped reduce wildlife incursions, and called for similar preventive measures in other affected communities.
Meanwhile, Nwoya District Woman MP Christine Lanyero Awany urged the government to install lighting along the Karuma-Pakwach highway to improve visibility where elephants cross the road, reducing the risk of collisions with vehicles.
Awany, who said she had narrowly escaped an encounter with elephants in the Karuma area, also called for increased revenue-sharing funds for districts bordering national parks to help them respond to emergencies arising from wildlife attacks.
She urged the government to prioritise compensation for affected families and treat the protection of human life as an urgent matter.
The proposed community training, alongside fencing, compensation and improved road safety, is expected to strengthen efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
