Equator Initiative - Case Studies Local sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities; Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), Uganda

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Equator Initiative - Case Studies Local sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities; Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), Uganda

October 22, 2013

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that work for people and for nature. Few publications or case studies tell the full story of how such initiatives evolve, the breadth of their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practitioners themselves guiding the narrative.  To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to fill this gap.

The following case study is one in a growing series that details the work of Equator Prize winners – vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmental conservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local success to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models for replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reference to ‘The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years of the Equator Prize’, a compendium of lessons learned and policy guidance that draws from the case material.

This particular case study is about the Bigodi village community, near Fort Portal, Western Uganda. It straddles an eight kilometre stretch of papyrus wetland that is home to an abundance of wildlife. Eight primate species and more than 200 bird species draw tourists from neighbouring Kibale Forest National Park, for which the Bigodi swamp forms an important wildlife corridor.

Through the work of Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), the community benefitted substantially from this ecotourism trade by establishing guided tours along a boardwalk through the wetlands, supplemented by the sale of handicrafts by the village women’s group. This study tells its conservation story.

Report Highlights

  • KAFRED's key activities in the conserving the Bigodi swamp area
  • The impacts of their initiatives in the area and region as a whole
  • How their work is being sustained and replicated by others
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