Lovers Hotel
Thanks to Charles Steinberg Photography for this submission.
If you have a picture you think belongs in this series, send it to me at mark@conservationconcepts.net
Mark D. Jordahl – Kampala
Golfing and Wildlife don't Mix
Can this really be happening? In another blow to the survival of Murchison Falls National Park, President Museveni is demanding that the Madhvani Group, the owners of Paraa and Chobe Lodges, be allowed to build a golf course within the park. Clearly he does not take the concept of “National Park” seriously.
I think building a Wal-Mart or a 24-hour Nakumatt at the Top of the Falls would be a reasonable next step.
First, let’s address the fact that Museveni is really in no position to make this call, either legally or in terms of his ability to assess the impacts of a project like this. He is quoted as saying “Golf has no fumes. It is not a factory to generate fumes, it is just grass. This must be resolved. Tell UWA that I want this to be done.”
He has absolutely no environmental credentials, and there are, theoretically, laws that a development like this should have to follow (for instance, undergoing one of those pesky Environmental Impact Assessments). It should also be a decision made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, not by decree of the president. If the president is able to just sidestep constitutional process whenever it is convenient for him, that is a sign of a broken political and legal system.
While there are efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of golf courses in countries with strict environmental oversight, unregulated courses are notoriously polluting. The chemicals used to maintain the “perfect” grass have contaminated water sources around the world. I don’t know where in the park the Madhvanis plan to build this course, but my guess is that they will want a view of the river, which means there is a high likelihood of chemical runoff into the Nile. There is also the issue of irrigating the entire course during the dry season, presumably with water from the river.
Building a golf course in Murchison Falls National Park will also result in yet another area of the park where the wildlife, the main reason for the existence of the park, will not be welcome. As oil development expands into the production phase, the wildlife will already be feeling pressured as the open habitat shrinks.
The Madhvanis requested permission to build a golf course in Queen Elizabeth National Park sometime back, but were turned down by the Uganda Wildlife Authority because of the impact it would have on wildlife. The current, questionably-appointed Acting Executive Director of UWA, Mark Kamanzi, has apparently agreed to the current proposal, saying “There’s nothing wrong with the President allowing a golf course to be built in the park. It does not mean that the land has been given away.” It is important to note that, like President Museveni, Mark Kamanzi has no environmental credentials – he is a lawyer who was moved into the position of Executive Director by the Board that was recently disbanded.
Uganda’s natural assets should not be sold off to the highest bidder. The national parks here have the highest level of protection of any blocks of land in the country. If even that level of protection can’t keep these places safe, what does that mean for the rest of the remaining forests and other natural lands? Ugandans successfully fought to keep Museveni from selling off part of Mabira Forest, but they shouldn’t have to continually fight to save places that are already legally protected.
It will be a sad day if Uganda’s National Parks become little more than a National Joke.
Mark D. Jordahl – Kampala
I have always bought into the idea that Winston Churchill should be credited with dubbing Uganda the “Pearl of Africa.” That’s what everybody says, and knowing that he came here and was enamored with the country, I never had a reason to doubt it.
Then this morning I read an article on Musere’s Live Journal called “Uganda the “Pearl of Africa,” Henry Morton Stanley, and Winston Spencer-Churchill.”
This article makes a pretty convincing argument that it was actually Henry Morton Stanley, that incredibly brutal explorer and scourge of Congo, who first called Uganda the “Pearl.”
I must admit that if this is true, I am a little disappointed. However, disappointing or not, the truth must be told.
Has anyone else out there come across references that connect this phrase to Stanley rather than Churchill?
Mark D. Jordahl – Kampala
Rwenzori Mountains from Queen Elizabeth NP
The Rwenzori Mountains and Mount Elgon, the bookends of Uganda, may provide a last bastion for biodiversity in Uganda in a changing climate. While these mountainous national parks get fewer visitors and fewer conservation dollars than the savanna parks and gorilla parks with their charismatic wildlife, they might turn out to be the most important ones to protect.
“Global Warming” Is A Distraction
Most people know by now that “Global Warming” is an unfortunate misnomer, giving ammunition to climate change deniers who say “yeah, but my backyard has gotten .06 degrees cooler on average over the last six months.”
The reality is that some places will get colder, some will get warmer, some will get wetter and some will get dryer. There is a very complex dynamic that determines our climate, which is why scientists look at the “big picture” rather than just localized information.
Likewise, climate change will not impact all species equally. My unscientific guess is that coyotes and cockroaches will do fine in a changing climate, just like they always do. They are incredibly adaptive generalists, they are mobile, they delight in popping up wherever people least expect them, and coyotes, at least, breed more rapidly under stress. Very few governments will need to invest in a Cockroach Conservation Strategy.
Wildlife Will Need Options in a Changing Climate
But what about species like plants that are less mobile, or animals that have more specific habitat needs? For those species, it is important to have a variety of climate conditions in a concentrated area so that they can find a suitable place to live. In a flat expanse of land, it might be many miles before you reach a different temperature or vegetation zone. On a mountain, however, moving just a few feet could completely change your reality.
Mountains have possibly the widest variance of ecosystems per square kilometer of any landscape. Not only are there extreme temperature differences resulting from altitudinal change, but the angle of a slope and its exposure to the sun can make one spot completely different from another just around the corner. A crevice in a rock can provide protection from winds that make the surface of the very same rock uninhabitable. Snowpack on a protected slope can insulate plants and trees that would freeze solid on a slope that gets blown clean during the winter.
According to a recent study done in the Swiss Alps, “alpine terrain is for the majority of species a much ‘safer’ place to live under conditions of climate warming, compared to flat terrain which offers no short-distance escapes from the changing temperatures.”
The Human Factor
As the lower elevations in Uganda become hotter and dryer, and thus less suitable for agriculture, humans will also begin to move to find better habitat. Our legendary mobility will always give us an advantage over the other species that are trying to relocate (except, of course, the cockroach which will be there waiting for us).
With Uganda’s population projected to exceed 100 million by 2050 (nearly tripling the current 32-34 million), there will be incredible pressure on every square inch of arable land. If there is going to be any space left for maintaining the biological diversity of this country, we need to be sure the mountain parks in Uganda are receiving the attention and funding they deserve.
Mark D. Jordahl – Kampala
Here is a video created by two filmmaker friends of mine, Vicky Collins and Paul Hillman, about the World Vision center in Gulu that is rehabilitating ex-child-soldiers. It recently aired on the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer. They interviewed a few of the young people who escaped from the LRA during battles in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year, and you get to hear directly from them about some of the challenges of trying to re-enter their old lives after years living as soldiers in the bush.
I think you will agree that the highlight of the piece is my cameo appearance driving my white SUV into the World Vision compound.
You can watch the original, longer version of the story that aired on HDNet here: Ugandan Child Soldiers
This is an important example of filmmakers, who have actually been here on the ground, trying to inform the world about the real, current issues confronting northern Uganda and ex-child-soldiers.
Thanks, Paul and Vicky!
Mark D. Jordahl – Kampala
Christian Lite
Kibuli Mosque
WE get the day off here in Kampala. How about you?
Find out more about Eid al-Adha, the ending of the period of the Hajj, and one of the most important days for Muslims around the world by clicking here.
Mark D. Jordahl – Kampala
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