Our Programs – Save Wildlife Uganda versus Friends of Wildlife Uganda

Current Projects

Establishment of a Community Centre

We are very excited to announce the Community Centre officially opened on June 1, 2023 and the Women for Conservation team are set and ready to work every day creating and selling their handmade crafts (which includes one-of-a-kind dresses) to visitors. We’ve also installed a large water tank to harvest rain water. For anyone planning an upcoming trip to Uganda, be sure to ask your guide to take you to the Save Wildlife Uganda Ishasha Community Centre!

Women for Conservation

Helping women become self-sufficient was a specific request from the community as it will generate much needed income, but also aligns with our conservation model “empowered women lift up their families which, in turn, avoids breeding future poachers.” The women have received over two months training in basket making and have created colorful, high-quality products for sale to visitors. We hope to expand to fabrics for purchase and would like to secure one or two sewing machines.

Lights for Lions

The lion population in the QENP is estimated to be only 130 individuals and every life is valuable for not only its contribution to the ecosystem, but tourism. This deterrent system (consisting of solar powered lights that flash on/off overnight, installed around the perimeter of a boma, and which the predator perceives as humans walking around with flashlights) is not a new concept and has been used successfully in Kenya and Tanzania. Thus far, we’ve outfitted 18 bomas in the Hamukungu Village and Kasengyi Fishing Village without a single breach. The project has been so well received, that farmers from other communities have reached out to us for help. For the immediate future, the goal is to outfit 15 more at a cost of $360/boma and an acknowledgement plague with the donor(s) name is affixed to the structure.

Queen Elizabeth Nursery School

The QENS admits children from vulnerable families who have no money to pay fees for better schools. The parents of these children are reformed poachers and farmers living on the edge of the national park who spend day/night guarding their crops against wildlife. We want to mobilize corn flour and beans on a regular basis with the goal of keeping these youngsters in school so they can learn about conservation and the monetary value of wildlife in terms of tourism versus abandoning their natural heritage and becoming poachers. The cost of 2.2 pounds of corn flour is $1.06 USD; 220 pounds is $106 USD. The cost of 2.2 pounds of beans is $1.33 USD; 220 pounds is $133 USD. There are currently 170 children enrolled down from 200 due to the extreme poverty of these families.

Traps to Treasures

We are proud to announce our latest initiative called Traps to Treasures. Save Wildlife Uganda is training former poachers to make “treasures” from confiscated snares, which are then sold at the Community Centre. With this skill, these men will be able to earn income so they can take care of themselves, and their families all while protecting Uganda’s precious heritage.