The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and its partners are now focusing on the conservation and promotion of birds to boost Uganda’s tourism earnings.
Mr. Stephen Masaba, the Ag. Director in charge of Tourism and Business Services at UWA says that bird watching is a worldwide tourism activity that attracts high returns.
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Uganda is home to 11 percent of the global bird species. About 10,000 bird species exist worldwide.
But information from UWA shows that the country earned only six million US dollars from 2000 tourists interested in bird watching in 2008.
Tourism operators say that birding attracts richer tourists since it is seen as a more sophisticated activity. Bird recording is a slow process, which makes birders spend more money on their trips. Achilles Byaruhanga, the Executive Director of Nature Uganda, says that an average bird watcher spends about 5000 US dollars on a tour around Uganda.
Uganda Wildlife Authority and partners such as Nature Uganda have devised means to promote bird watching as a major tourism activity, by organizing a 3-day event known as the Big Birding Day, to be held at the end of September.
UWA is also developing a bird checklist, to provide tourists with information on which species can be found in which sites and at what period. Birds in Uganda are found in natural and planted forests, swamps, bushes and other non-gazette areas.
The rare shoebill is said to be the single species that attracts the biggest number of bird watchers in the country.
Some players in the industry however think that policies on conservation and tourism marketing are still too weak to aid Uganda to take full advantage of its tourism potential.
Herbert Byaruhanga, the Chairman of the Safari Guides Association and a Bird-Guide Trainer says that educating local populations about the value of the tourism products Uganda has and the purpose of conservation would lower the levels of degrading these natural endowments.
Masaba says that marketing efforts to the UK and US are intensifying, and the target is to attract at least 10,000 bird watchers in the next one year.
According to Byaruhanga of Nature Uganda, on the last birding day in 2010, 660 bird species were recorded, meaning that more information is now available for tourists. At this year’s birding day, the target is to record at least 750 bird species.
