A pastoralist population called the Sabei, of Nilo-Cushtic origin, live on the northern slopes of Mount Elgon between about 2500 and 3000m where they graze their cattle, sheep and goats on pastures within the forest and on the high moor lands. The households of the Sabei were thought to number about 210 in 1991 (Howard, 1991), with each household containing an extended family. Apart from the Sabei there are no other recorded traditional residents of the area currently gazetted as Mount Elgon National Park. The Bagisu are of Bantu origin and have gradually moved further up the lower slopes of Mount Elgon having moved into the area from the east in the sixteenth century (Were & Wilson, 1970).
Uganda’s population is one of the fastest growing in the world and has been highly mobile in the past due to political turmoil. Immigration rates to the region have been high and encroachment upon the old Forest Reserve area proceeded unchecked until the early eighties. Recently as the politics of the country have stabilised, Uganda National Parks Authority has managed to assert its authority in its areas of jurisdiction. Security has been stepped up, investment in tourism has increased and encouragement and support for research efforts have been extended. In 1983 and 1990 the National Park authorities started a resettlement programme to move the population from within the park to settlement areas allocated outside the park. The two largest relocations from the National Park took place in 1983 and 1990.
A number of forest dwellers still live in the park. They are primarily pastoralists, practising subsistence agriculture in gardens next to their houses (figure 1a, below). Prior to cultivation, the areas are burnt and cow dung is added to the soil to fertilise it. The gardens are then planted for two or three years. The high altitude prohibits the production of maize, but potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and matoke (Musa sapientum) are widely grown. When the evictions occurred, many of these gardens and grazing areas around them were abandoned. Immediately after the 1990 evictions the forest was lacking the dense shrub layer characteristic of East African upper montane forests (Richards, 1996) and extensive areas of top-soil were exposed due to the activity of cattle (Katende, A. pers. comm.). The current pastoralists concentrate grazing activity on the Benet grasslands which meander through the forest at an altitude of approximately 2500 – 2800 m. It is not certain whether the Benet grasslands have always been open grassy areas (van Heist, 1994) but they are maintained as artificial climax by heavy grazing. A number of cattle graze in the forest, but they are fewer in number than before the evictions. Although the Ndorobos live illegally in the area they are tolerated by the National Park, who are currently deciding whether to relocate them.
Human impact: the need for research in Mount Elgon National Park
A combination of factors such as poor access roads, harsh weather and difficult working conditions make research on Mount Elgon a difficult task. In the past the National Park has suffered security problems from cattle rustling and coffee smuggling activities between the communities on either side of the Kenya/Uganda border. Due to the huge area, dense vegetation cover and poor communications between the Kenyan and Ugandan National Parks, effective policing has been difficult. These factors were compounded by political instability and civil unrest in Uganda which has only improved sufficiently in the last decade to enable research to take place in the area.
For the above reasons, until recently little research was carried out on Mount Elgon in comparison to other Ugandan National Parks. The need for a study into the impact of humans in this area has increased greatly in recent years. This is partly due to the increasing number of tourists visiting the area each year and the keenness of the National Park and local people to encourage this trend. In addition to this, local people have been progressively moved out of Mount Elgon National Park (MENP) and MENP management are currently deciding whether to relocate those people who are still living in the park. The majority of the human population living in the National Park are living in the Benet parish where this study was based (Scott, 1994).
This has raised a number of controversial questions about the impact of humans in the area and its future management. For example, should people be left in the park as a natural part of the ecosystem? What is their current impact on the flora and fauna of the area? What impact is increased tourism likely to have on the area? What access should local people be given to forest resources, for example grazing land, timber and bamboo? And what are the implications for the park of resource use by the expanding communities adjacent to the park? Whilst not offering answers to all these questions, the studies carried out by Project Elgon in 1996 and 1997 have provided new information which has aided National Park management and local people to make informed decisions about their impact on the ecosystem which supports them. It has also added to the growing base of knowledge about the human, animal and plant communities on Mount Elgon. In response to the volume of work which is needed if we are to fully understand the issues surrounding the conservation and development of this area, further work is required to be carried out.
The status of people currently living in the park is of critical importance to the future of the National Park. Land tenure rights of people living in the park are at present uncertain and this has created conflict between local people and the management of the National Park. People are generally unwilling to use resources in the park sustainably, as there is no incentive to invest time and money in sustainable practices when eviction may be imminent. It is becoming of increasing urgency to decide whether people who are currently living in the park should be allowed to do so on a permanent basis.