Bwindi has a variety of 120 species that inhabit the land. The park is a sanctuary for monkeys, chimpanzees, birds, bees, and endangered mountain gorillas. Along with diverse species, the park has undergone several projects to support the less fortunate living closest to the Bwindi forest. Tourists can take the 2.5 km trail to see the beauty of Bwindi and learn about their intrinsic projects. The trails are intended to be guided by a Bwindi Specialist Guide in order to cover most of the park and educate the tourists along the way.
Bwindi has undergone several projects which impacted hundreds of people and continue to expand their efforts in economically helping families. Below are just some projects or reforms that have occurred since the park opened:
Ride 4 A Women is the tourism project that changed the lives of many women and Batwa individuals. Each family is able to weave four sets of baskets and buy a solar panel for six lights for each of the members. Just two sets of baskets, which take a week each, earns enough to afford school fees for one term. Now their homes are well-lit, they are happy, their families are benefitting, their kids are at school, and the women have increased production of baskets because they’re able to weave at night with the solar lights.
Poaching was a big activity throughout Bwindi and once the park opened, they were forced to stop but, luckily a new activity, beekeeping, started and they were able to join in on the project and generate money to buy goats in order to sustain their households. These poachers underwent training to be able to build beehives from local materials and explain how their lives changed by now giving back to the society rather than taking from it.
Golden Bees is a commercial honey producing and exporting company. Brian Mugisha who owns the company provided training and improved beekeeping and honey production, donated equipment to the bee-keeping groups, and opened a honey store at the end of the trail to sell the local honey and handicrafts. Beekeeping around Bwindi is largely a subsistence activity dominated by the use of traditional hives and rudimentary skills which have been passed down through generations. Initiative was intended not only to stimulate the production of quality honey andother bee products but also to lay the foundations for long-term business relationships with smallholders to create a sustainable honey value chain.
We will be visiting the park with Brian for 3 days and throughout our stay we will complete the trail, learn about weaving, engage with the Batwa community and most importantly visit the farmers who manage the individual beehives. This trip will allow us to fully engage with the farmers and experience hands on how the process of beekeeping is completed. We will be bringing back the combs of honey to Brian’s home office to extract the honey and see how the end product is created.
SMART 2020 