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Education | Forest Function | Global Carbon | Land/Water | Landcover/Land Use | Science in Public Affairs
Building Tours | Seminars | Global Warming Primer | Staff Essays | Published Literature | Related Sites
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, UgandaOverview | Data
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is remarkable for its extrememly high biodiversity; this 33,000 ha tract of forest has some of the richest faunal and floral assemblages in East Africa. The park also supports half the world's remaining population of mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla berengei)--there are currently approximately 300 individuals living in more than 20 family units within the Park. Mgahinga National Park, located to the south of Bwindi, is the only other location in the world where mountain gorillas still survive. In addition to gorillas, Bwindi is also home to 120 species of mammals including the eastern chimpanzee, the African elephant, the giant forest hog, and the yellowbacked and blackfronted duiker. Located on Uganda's southwestern border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bwindi is uniquely situated at the interface between the region's lowland and montane vegetation communities. The protected area is characterized by extremenly rugged topography ranging form steep hills and peaks to deep, narrow valleys. Bwindi's location on the border between two distinct floral assemblages and its wide reage of topographic features creates a stunning variety of habitat types including single-species dominated climax communities, colonizing forest types, swamps, grasslands, and bamboo forests.
An Aster image showing Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the surrounding landscape. Note that the only significant forest that remains in this region and within the Park boundary. Natural EnvironmentBwindi Impenetrable National Park is balanced delicately at the interface between the East African lowlands and the more rugged landscape of the Albertine Rift highlands, resulting in the region's unique character and high levels of species endemism. This area is characterized by a tropical climate with two rainy reasons, annual rainfall amounts averaging from 1,130-2,390 mm, and a mean temperature range of 7-15° C (mean minimum temperature) to 20-28° C (maximum). The elevation within the Park boundaries ranges from 1,190 meters to 2,607 m; over 60% of the area is greater than 2,000 m in elevation.
Although Bwindi's tree and plant communities have not yet been thoroughly classifies, there are believed to be over 200 tree species present in the Park. Approximately 40% of the forest area i smedium-rich to rich mixed forest that contains key species such as the red stinkwood (Prunus Africana) and the newtonia (Newtonia buchanani). The dominant tree species in any given section of forest varies with the altitude of the site and the quality of its soils. Besides these rich, mature forests, another 30% of Bwindo's area is comprised of poor, hill, or colonizing forest types. Bamboo forests, swamps, and grasslands are also present in small patches. Bwindi Park is considered one of the most important locations for the conservation of fauna endemic to the mountains of the Albertine Rift region. In addition to the high concentration of larges mammals, the Park is also home to at least 200 species of montane butterflies and 350 species of birds; twelve of Bwindi's 78 montane forest bird species are endemic to the park and its neighboring highlands. For more information on Bwindi and its wildlife, please visit the United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
Land UseLand use in Bwindi's Kigezi District is dominated by agriculture. The earliest evidence of alnd cultivation in tropical Africa is found in this regin, and dates back 4,800 years to the arrival of the Batwa pygmies. Although the Batwa were primarily hunter-gatherers, they may have also practiced small-scale agriculture, and probably used fire to help manage the dense vegetation. Almost 3,000 years after the arrival of the Batwa, Bantu agriculturalists arrived in the region. Today, the region surrounding Bwindi is one Uganda's most densely populated rural areas, with densities ranging from 160 to 320 persons/square kilometer; approximately 10,000 families farm the land immediately surrouning the Park. The northern and southern portions of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park were gazetted separately in 1932 and combined a decade later, bringing the total area to just over 33,000 ha. In 1964, the entire area was designated as an animal santuary under Uganda's Game Preservation and Control Act. At this time, hundreds of familes were living within the Park boundaries and were completely dependent on the forest's resources; these families were evicted from the Park. Although the majority were forced to leave the region in order to survive, 50-100 families remain and earn their livelihoods as landless laborers. Althouh local peoples still rely on the protected forests for resources including fuelwood, medicinal plants, and bamboo, util recently their only option was to remove such resources illegally. The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), which manages Bwindi, is currently working on a multiple use program that would allow neighboring communities acces to Park resources on a limited basis.
Threats to ConservationDespite having been designated a protected area of 70 years ago, more than 60% of Bwindi's area has been selectively logged; until 1994, the management plan for the Park was simultaneously focues on the preservation of forest cover and extraction of the maximum sustainable timber harvest. Over the last several decades, timber extraction on steep hills has resulted in erosion and soil loss on many of Bwindi's slopes. Although the Park's rugged topography makes mechanized logging operations infeasible, large-scale, commercials timber harvests have removed all remaining forests immediately beyond Bwindi's boundaries.
Land for agriculture is in such high demand that clearing takes place even on steep, erosion-prone slopes. Here, the hills have been stripped of forest right up to the border of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Today, only 10% of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park's area remains free from human disturbance. In the 1980s, pit-sawing for timber occurred in over 61% of the Park; hunting and collecting bush meat occurred in 25% of the Park; and gold panning and mining were commonplace. Livestock are currently raised on over 10% of Bwindi's area; footpaths from herders and others cross two-thirds of the Park. The high density of people immediately surrounding the Park coupled with the plethora of natural resources available within the Park make agricultural encroachment and unmanaged and unsustainable resources extraction the most immediate threats to the ecological integrity of this protected area. Bush meat hunting and poaching of several large mammal species, including antelope, wild hogs, and duiker are common within the borders of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Mountain gorillas are not typically targeted for bush meat; however, increased human contact and habituation has made them vulnerable to poaching as well as diseases transmitted through visitors to the Park.
Overview | Data
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Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is named of its dense tangle of herbs, vines, and shrubs blanketing the forest floor in the valley bottoms. The vegetation is generally classified as medium altitude moist evergreen and high altitude forest. The Park is rich in both tree and fern species, many of which are found almost exclusively in Bwindi. This Afromontane vegetation is considered to be the rarest vegetation type in Africa, and has resulted in Bwindi's distinction as a United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site. 
