Community-Led Participatory Forest Monitoring for the Restoration of Kibale National Park (KNP) in Western Uganda

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study on Participatory Forest Monitoring (PFM) and Natural Forest Restoration (NFR) in Uganda, a case of communities bordering Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda was conducted among 394 respondents from June to August 2024. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design to determine participatory Forest Monitoring Activities and Practices. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to collect responses and data was analysed using MS Excel. Findings reveal that more males (55.58%) participated in PFM compared to 44.42 females, most females were involved in raising seedlings for restoration of KNP. The majority (83.76%) of them were farmers. Over 46.09% of the households were employed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority Forests Absorbing Carbon Emission (UWA-FACE) project and living within 1 kilometre of the park boundary. Tree planting through reforestation of degraded and reclaimed areas was the main PFM activity at 51%. Participation in PFM was through signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Only 24% of the households signed an MOU with UWA-FACE to participate in PFM programmes. Of the 394 respondents surveyed, 79.2% strongly agreed that they engaged in selecting tree species to raise for restoration activities to improve the management of Kibale National Park (M=1.88, SD = 1.97). Almost half (54.4%) of the communities bordering Kibale National Park (KNP) work with UWA rangers during forest monitoring patrols in restored areas (M=2.25, SD = 1.95). PFM can restore natural forests. There is a need to increase support for community projects by UWA-FACE.