The Utilisation and Conservation Status of Non-Timber Forest Products in an Afromontane Forest of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, South West Uganda

27 Mar 2008 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, Africa Forests

Robert Bitariho

The project aims at assessing the utilization and new demand of non-timber forest products and their conservation status in the forest

Rytigynia kigeziensis shrub like tree that has been debarked for bark used to treat intestinal worms in children.

Rytigynia kigeziensis shrub like tree that has been debarked for bark used to treat intestinal worms in children.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are a major source of livelihood for most rural economies such as those adjacent protected areas like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP). There has been a considerable high demand for NTFPs from BINP forest by the local people living adjacent BINP. However NTFPs sustainable harvest off-takes have never been determined in BINP. This project aims at assessing the utilisation and new demands of NTFPs and determining their sustainable harvest off-takes and conservation status within BINP.

Through village interviews, eight highly demanded and used NTFPs by the local people from the forest will be determined. The interview will involve the free-listing technique developed by several anthropologists. The density and distribution of the NTFPs in BINP will also be determined through forest inventories and herbarium specimen collections. The forest surveys will also determine regeneration potentials and annual yields of six highly demanded NTFPs. Last but not least, the study will also determine sustainable harvest off-takes of the six highly demanded NTFPs through using demand and supply parameters of the NTFPs (village and forest inventories) and regeneration and yield characteristics of the highly demanded NTFPs.

These sustainable harvest off-takes will be extrapolated to the whole forest and be used as a basis for recommending the sustainable annual harvest off-takes of the NTFPs. The sustainable annual harvest off-takes of NTFPs are urgently needed by Uganda wildlife Authority while reviewing plant harvest memorandum of understanding together with local communities living adjacent BINP.

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