Rainforest Concern

Uganda

AssisTIng Uganda's Batwa people

The Batwa, more commonly known by the misnomer 'Pygmies', were origiinally forest-dwelling hunter-gatherers, practising a highly sustainable, traditional way of life in the high mountainous forest areas of the Great Lakes region in Central Africa. They are still to be found living in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DRC.

Not taken into account in the development of national conservation initiatives, the Batwa were gradually evicted from their ancestral lands and have since found themselves in a highly marginalised situation living on the fringes of dominant society. 

The most acute impact of the Batwa's forced eviction and exclusion from their ancestral territory has been landlessness and severe poverty. In 2000, with the assistance of the UK-based charity, Forest Peoples Programme, the Batwa established their own community-based organisation - The United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) - to lobby for their rights and help alleviate their suffering. UOBDU has since been engaged in education, agriculture, advocacy and income-generation initiatives on behalf of the Batwa.

Rainforest Concern recently donated $25,000 to UOBDU to help the Batwa purchase approximately 50 acres of private, forested land bordering Bwindi National Park, in the Kanungu District of southwest Uganda. The land transaction was completed in May 2006 and UOBDU is now in the process of establishing a Batwa Trust to hold this land collectively and in perpetuity for the Batwa.

 Please click here for our comprehensive 2007 newsletter update (pdf format).