Muhumuza Moses

Title: Land use and conservation practices in a Mountainous terrain: A case study of a rugged

local area in Uganda.

Author: Moses Muhumuza

Keywords: Land use, conservation, Mountains, Uganda

Issue Date: March 2010

Publisher: VDM publishers, Germany

ISBN: 978-3-639-23135-9

Abstract:

Mountain people are among the world’s poor and face a number challenges since they inhabit a fragile ecosystem. Mountainous areas are characterized by limited land resources, marginal agricultural conditions, isolation, scanty equipment, and remoteness. However due to good climate & relatively high productivity Uganda’s mountainous areas covering 25% of the land area are heavily populated by peasants who depend directly on the environment for livelihood and survival. This book presents how land use practices of local people who inhabit the Rwenzori massif impact on the mountain ecology. Evidence shows that local people have cleared steeper slopes mainly for agriculture & construction of buildings. Their actions have caused erosion, mass wasting, land fragmentation and introduction of alien plants. However, massive immigration and political instability in the region are also to blame for curtailed conservation efforts. The book argues that since many local resource management groups seem to have arisen spontaneously, important is to hold discussions with them & formulate a joint way forward. Above all traditional society structures could indicate the most effective way to proceed.

Description: This book was published as a monograph.

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Title: Forest regeneration amid Anthropogenic pressure in rural Africa: A comparative analysis of two

forest fragments in western Uganda

Author: Moses Muhumuza

Keywords: Forest, Regeneration Anthropogenic pressure, Uganda

Issue Date: January, 2010

Publisher: VDM publishers, Germany

ISBN: 978-3-639-23135-9

Abstract:

There is very little untouched forest left in the world & almost every corner of the planet is influenced by human activities. Africans in sub-Saharan Africa depend on forest products to a greater extent than most other parts of the world. Forest resources are fundamental to human wellbeing for survival, employment, export, and economic gain. This book presents a case study of how African rural people influence forest degradation and impede forest regeneration. Forest inhabitants and communities living adjacent to forests are hunters and wild plant resource gatherers. Evidence put forward shows that the rate of harvest of forest resources increases by much faster than human population growth. Amid scarcity of resources local communities eke the remnants of degraded forest fragments for lack of alternative means of survival. Increase in human populations with greater consumerism means that we have to expect further loss of forest cover and biodiversity. Forests will not maintain rich biodiversity if the surrounding land-use does not permit the normal functioning of the ecosystem. We should think beyond the immediate causes of forest biodiversity loss, and consider the root causes.

Description: This book was published as a monograph.

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Title: Impact of land use on the ecology of uncultivated plant species in the Rwenzori mountain range,

mid western Uganda.

Authors: Moses Muhumuza and Dominic Byarugaba

Keywords: Ecology, Impact, Land use, Mountain, Plant, Rwenzori

Issue Date: December, 2009

Publisher: Blackwell publishers

Abstract:

Rwenzori mountain range is important for its high diversity of unique species and as a water catchment area and yet very fragile to human interference. The study documented the impact of land use on ecology of uncultivated plant species in the Rwenzori mountain range using Bugoye sub-county as a reference site. The ecological aspects of the plants studied included distribution, abundance and diversity of the plant species in and around the various land uses as well as in degraded, disturbed and undisturbed areas. Land uses identified were; agriculture, built up area and land with other activities (conservation and abandoned fields). The study revealed that agriculture was the main land use category taking up 69.7% of land use area. Plants distributed in and around the land uses were mainly trees with species diversity of 34.5%. Generally, there was no relationship in the distribution of plant species in degraded, undisturbed and disturbed areas (a = 0.01). In disturbed areas, there was vegetation cover especially of plant species that occur as secondary re-growth, and in degraded areas, the ground was sparsely covered by primary succession species while in the undisturbed areas, plant species growing in a ‘natural. Habitat dominated and most of them were climax species.

Description: Research article published in African Journal of Ecology, Volume 47, Number 4, December 2009, pp. 614-621(8).

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Title: Developing a theoretical framework for investigating environmental conservation

problems in the Rwenzori Mountains.

Authors: Moses Muhumuza and Martie Sanders

Keywords: Theoretical framework, conservation, Mountain, Rwenzori

Issue Date: January, 2009

Publisher: Rhodes University press, South Africa

ISBN: 978-92-990043-7-1

Abstract:

Theoretical frameworks play a vital role in research, spelling out the constructs important in the research area, and the relationships between the constructs. An understanding of the theory which underpins the research provides researchers with a framework which enables them to understand when, how and why particular phenomena occur. This allows them to make reasoned predictions which can be empirically tested during research studies. Such frameworks not only guide the questions asked and the design of the research, but also help to interpret the data. If the situation being investigated is very complex, involving numerous interlinked variables, it is often difficult to identify a single theory or framework that is suitable for a particular study, and researchers use one of a number of alternatives to provide a suitable theoretical framework to underpin their research. The situation to be investigated in the proposed research is complex, aiming to understand the nature and extent of infringements of conservation efforts in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, and the underlying factors which influence these practices. Such an understanding is needed before a solution can be found to sustainable development in the park. This paper describes the development of a suitable framework for the study, building on existing theories, and attempting to accommodate both “western” and African perspectives.

Description: Research article published in Conference proceedings for 18th Annual conference of Southern Africa Association of Mathematics, Science and technology educators (19th – 22nd January, 2009) ISBN: 978-92-990043-7-1, pp 365-373

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Title: The people of Mountains of the Moon:

Seeking recognition of their culture in the conservation of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Author: Moses Muhumuza

Keywords: Mountains, Culture, Conservation, Rwenzori

Issue Date: November, 2009

Publisher: VDM publishers, Germany

ISBN: 978-36-39211276

Abstract:

To date conservation in Africa has been very much the domain of the biologist, but the current ecological crisis in Africa and the failure of past conservation approaches many of which were exogenous in nature demands a radical new appraisal of conventional practices. This book provides a new inter-disciplinary look at the practice of Biodiversity conservation in Africa. It brings together understanding of conservation from a cultural perspective hence bringing social scientists, anthropologists, historians and conservation biologists for the first time. The book sheds light on the previously neglected but critically important social aspects of conservation thinking in Africa that includes indigenous knowledge, belief and practices. This new approach to conservation, the book argues, cannot deal simply with the survival of wildlife and species habitats, for the future of African wildlife is intimately tied to the future of African rural communities. The book emphasizes an urgent need for rethinking and revision of the past conservation approaches so that a new approach borrowing from a cultural perspective is promoted not as a competitive approach but rather a complementary one.

Description: This book was published as a monograph.

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Title: The role of cultural values in the conservation of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Authors: Moses Muhumuza Olivia Biira and Arthur Mugisha

Keywords: Culture, Conservation, Rwenzori, National Park

Issue Date: November, 2009

Publisher: Nature Uganda

Abstract:

Protected areas (PA) play a vital role in conservation of biodiversity. However, sustaining these PAs in the face of anthropogenic threats, continue to challenge conservation efforts. A number of approaches such as awareness raising and conservation enterprises have been applied over the past decades. Nevertheless attitudes of communities towards PAs continue to be lukewarm or open hostility. Yet, for the PAs to survive into the future, they need to be supported by local communities. In an attempt to garner such support, Uganda Wildlife Authority, in partnership with Fauna and Flora International designed a Cultural Values Conservation Project whose implementation began in 2005 in Lake Mburo and Rwenzori National Parks. The overall goal of this project was to demonstrate how integration of a people’s identified cultural values in the PAs management can improve its conservation status through increased interests in and improved attitudes of its neighboring communities. In the Rwenzori, a consultative process among the mountain people, identified 15 sacred sites in the Park, used for communication with the gods who live on top of the mountain. To better understand their socio-cultural significance among the communities and their roles in achieving conservation objectives, a qualitative research was undertaken between July and September 2009, among communities living close to sacred sites. Rapid ethnographic assessment, semi-structured, expert and impromptu interviews plus focused group discussions were used to collect data, which was manually analyzed. Results indicate that access to sacred sites for practicing cultural performance stopped in the 80s due to insecurity in the mountain. Before then, sacred site played a central role in the lives of the people. Reasons for performing cultural rituals were, for; health, ridge cleansing, rainfall and peace. Respondents above 60 years were more knowledgeable about sacred sites and revealed their interest in practicing cultural rituals when permitted. Sacred sites are owned and controlled by ridge leaders and chieftains that form the kingship structure. Improper ownership and use is believed to result in severe punishment including death by the gods. Sacred sites achieve conservation goals through a stricter controlled access to natural resources through the ridge leaders and strong beliefs and taboos attached to sacred sites.

Description: This paper was presented at Nature Uganda conference, 19^th – 20^th November, 2009. Published in conference proceedings and submitted for publication in the Journal of East African Natural history special issue yet to be released.

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Title: Exploration of climate change adaptation strategies for the Rwenzori Mountains, mid-western Uganda.

Authors: Moses Muhumuza

Keywords: climate change, adaptation, Rwenzori

Issue Date: December, 2008

Publisher: Mbarara University printery

Abstract:

The Rwenzori Mountains are internationally recognized as a cultural heritage site by UNESCO. They have a rich biodiversity including several endemic plant and animal species. They comprise of the third, fourth and fifth highest mountain peaks on the African continent, even though located at the equator, the mountains are snow capped. The snows of the Rwenzori Mountains serve as a water catchment for various wetlands such as Lake Victoria and river Nile on which many people depend. However, recent studies have shown that the Rwenzori Mountains are being affected by climate change. Climate change has the potential to create a wide range of biophysical, socio-economic and cultural impacts in and around the Rwenzori Mountains. The impacts created by climate change could pose immense challenges to the survival of the rural poor in and around the mountains who depend on the natural environment to meet their livelihood. A bid to work collaboratively towards environmental sustainability (a millennium goal) triggered a study to explore ways through which people in fragile environments (such as the Rwenzori Mountains) highly susceptible to climate change could adapt to the new environment. This paper will therefore highlight (a) the range of expected biophysical, social-economic and cultural impacts due to climate change in the Rwenzori Mountains; (b) explore various strategies for climate change adaptation in the Rwenzori Mountains; (c) examine the role of traditional practices in climate change adaptation in the Rwenzori Mountains; and (d) discuss the missing link in climate change adaptation strategies and suggest priorities for filling the perceived gaps. The ultimate goal of the study is to develop a model for community based climate change adaptation for the Rwenzori Mountains which could be emulated by other regions in Uganda and beyond where similar conditions prevail.

Description: This paper was presented at the 4th Annual Research dissemination conference at Mbarara University of science and Technology (17th December, 2008). Book of abstracts pp 27-28

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Mountains of the Moon University

Muhumuza Moses