By Baluku Geoffrey
Uganda Wildlife Authority decided to "privatize" the Nkuringo family of gorillas. Effective Aug 08, the buying of Nkuringo permits will be done through the Uganda Safari Company. To most of us; this is the biggest injustice UWA has done to both tour operators and the residents/locals of Kisoro.
We all know that despite gorilla permits being the backbone of Uganda's tourism industry, they are also scarce and competitive. Thus giving the monopoly of their sale to an individual (tour operator) is a vice we should fight as early as NOW.At one of the stake holders meeting convened by UWA at Hotel Equatoria late last year, the Executive Director UWA was asked to throw more light on the deal. He dodged the question though promised to call tour operators at a later date so as to explain the reasons behind this move. We were saddened to learn that a "management agreement" was signed in March 08 even without informing most stake holders. What do we see? Simply a new form of "Scramble" for our natural resources.
If we do not fight such tendencies then very soon even most of our National parks may be privatized.Owning a lodge should not be a reason for 6 or all of the 8 permits to be sold by a tour operator and competitor in the toursim trade. These gorillas are a National resource and should therefore not be tagged to some one because he /she has put up a lodge some where. Very many Ugandans have invested in the sector. Take for instance Volcanoes, Gorilla Resort, Kitandara Tented Camp, Buhoma Community Bandas & Buhoma Lodge owned by African Pearl Safaris though currently under the management of G & C; Kisoro Rest Camp to mention but afew have never requested to "own" a family of gorillas.
This kind of move may lead other "investors" to also request that such clauses be included in their management agreements.We are not against "investors" putting up competitive lodges. However, they should not dictate over the Uganda tourism industry by giving terms such as requesting to "monopolize" the selling of permits under the disguise of community thus denying other potential investors from constructing lodges within particular areas. A competitor in the tour industry can never be fair in selling these permits.
The implication of this move is that other stake holders in Kisoro town; such as Internet Cafe Restaurants, Hoteliers such as Heritage Lodge, Kisoro Travelers Rest Hotel and other craft sellers among others will lose out on business. This may endanger the gorillas in such a way that the locals will not see any benefit in protecting the gorillas thus develop a hostile attitude to both the tourists and the gorillas.The industry also stands to lose as a result of this move. Why do we say this? The Ugandan tourism industry receives both high end and budget travelers.
We do not see how the budget travelers will stay at Clouds Lodge (with the high prices that they are due to charge). When we last called them, they said that they were to charge USD450 per person per night with a further condition that a minimum of two nights have to be booked. This means that a single client would spend USD900 on accommodation plus an extra USD500 on the permit. This however, does not include transport, administrative costs and government tax.
There are quite a number of community lodges in Africa south of the Sahara that were built for conservation purposes and poverty alleviation. In Rwanda, the Sabinyo Lodge collects a surcharge on every guest, for the community but does not have any particular gorilla group tied to the lodge because of this contribution.
In Namibia, a community lodge built on American tax payers money and donors through a conservation organisation is run by an elected committee from the community and taken for training in hospitality related work. They received exposure and now run the lodge. The park authority did not tie visitors to this part of the park to staying at the lodge. Even in Cuba and the former soviet union visitors are allowed to choose where to stay.If this is not robbery then what is it? We are of the opinion that clients should be given an opportunity to choose between the high end and budget kind of tour.
This move is and has already forced Ugandan tour operators to go in for Rwanda gorilla permits. It bits our understanding to see that the planners at Uganda Wildlife Authority / Ministry of Tourism in Uganda do not fore see that such a move will kill gorilla tourism. Against the above back ground, we would like to propose that this agreement be CANCELLED and Uganda Wildlife Authority takes on its usual responsibility of selling all gorilla permits as per current policy.
The current policy clearly states that primary sale of gorilla permits by individuals or tour companies anywhere is illegal and that all permits MUST be bought from Uganda Wildlife Authority only. It further stipulates that payment for permits must be made directly to Uganda Wildlife Authority. Then what is so special about the Safari Company/ Clouds lodge taking this monopoly. These gorillas are a national resource which should not be seen to be benefiting a particular individual under the disguise of community.
This selective empowerment of the communities may breed a hostile environment. We need to collectively stop it.
By Baluku Geoffrey
Tourism Consultant
Kampala - Uganda
Email: tourismintelligence@gmail.com
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