Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the UNESCO world heritage site in Africa listed because of its outstanding natural and cultural values. It is one of the only three UNESCO world heritage sites in Uganda. The two others are
- Kasubi Tombs in Kampala, the capital of Uganda and
- the Rwenzori Mountains located along the Uganda – DR Congo borders.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a living tourism site. It gained the status of being a UNESCO world heritage site given its unique characteristic of protecting 3 great apes in Africa. It hosts the endangered mountain gorillas, chimpanzees as well as the Batwa People. The later have been evicted out of the forest so that the conservation of the mountain gorillas can be strengthened.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994. Bwindi National Park covers 32,000 hectares of land and is known for its exceptional biodiversity. The parks hosts more than 160 species of trees and over 100 species of ferns. The ancient forest also hosts many types of birds and butterflies.
Why Was Bwindi Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Bwindi Impenetrable Forests hosts many endangered species including the mountain gorillas. The park used to host three apes;
- the mountain gorillas
- the chimpanzees
- the Batwa People who used to live in the forests.
Quick Facts About Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
COUNTRY Uganda
NAME Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
IUCN MANAGEMENT CATEGORY
II (National Park)
Natural World Heritage Site inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994. Natural Criteria iii, iv
AREA 33,092ha
LAND TENURE Public. The park is owned by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), a parastatal government body. Protection is total, although a multiple use program is being developed through which peripheral communities can access some resources from the Park.
ALTITUDE 1,190m to 2,607m. The lowest point occurs in the northernmost tip of the park; the highest is Rwamunyonyi hill on its eastern edge.
BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PROVINCE East African Woodland / Savanna (3.05.04)
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION In the Kigezi (Rukigi) Highlands of southwestern Uganda overlooking the western rift valley, within the Districts of Kabale, Kisoro and Kanangu. The Park borders the Democratic Republic of Congo on the west. The nearest main town is Kabale 29km by road to the south-east: 0°53′ to 1°08’S x 29°35′ to 29°50’E.
DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT
| 1932 | The present northern and southern sectors of the forest were gazetted as Kasatora and Kayonza Crown Forest Reserves respectively, covering an area of 20,700ha; |
| 1942 | The two reserves were combined and extended into the Impenetrable Central Crown Forest Reserve covering 29,800ha (Forest Act, 1947, amended 1964); |
| 1964 | The entire Reserve was gazetted an animal sanctuary under the Game Preservation & Control Act of 1959, as amended 1964, to grant additional protection to the mountain gorillas; |
| 1966 | Two local forest reserves incorporated into the reserve increasing the area to 32,080ha. |
| 1991 | Bwindi gazetted as a National Park by Statutory Instrument No.3,1992, National Parks Act,1952, with the Rwenzori Mountains and Mgahinga Gorilla Reserves; |
| 1994 | The Mbwa tract (1,000ha) incorporated. |
CLIMATE The climate is tropical with two rainfall peaks from March to May and September to November. The annual precipitation lies in the range 1,130-2,390mm (Howard,1991;UNP,1993). The annual mean temperature ranges from a minimum of 7-15°C to a maximum of 20-28°C.
CONSERVATION VALUE
Bwindi is an ecological island forest of international importance and is the richest conservation area in Uganda owing to the exceptional diversity of both its flora and fauna. Its faunal community is considered to be East Africa’s richest due in part to its extensive lowland-montane forest continuum. This includes many Albertine Rift endemics and six globally threatened species including the habitat of more than a third of the world’s population of mountain gorillas.