Background
The program is being implemented in Uganda’s Albertine region, a vital biodiversity hotspot that faces significant challenges due to high population density, poverty, and weak governance of natural resources. These pressures have led to deforestation, degradation of water resources, and increasing threats to high-value conservation areas.
Addressing these issues requires strong community engagement and empowerment to ensure that solutions are locally appropriate. The program is also built on the recognition that civic engagement opportunities have been increasingly restricted over the past decade, a trend that has eroded fundamental rights and reduced civil society’s ability to influence decisions concerning the use of local resources.
KCSON is taking the lead in coordinating program activities around Bugoma Central Forest Reserve in Kagadi and Kikuube, within the Markison-Semuliki landscape. KCSON is working closely with local governments and forest management authorities to foster more participatory decision-making.
Through this program, KCSON, as a hub coordinating CSOs and communities living adjacent to Bugoma and other protected areas, is being supported by WWF-UCO to manage natural resources in ways that advance both conservation objectives and livelihood improvements.
