BINP staff‟s perceptions of internal and external stakeholders

Internationally, BINP is a world heritage site governed by the World Heritage Convention, which Uganda as a state party ratified in 1972. The convention has particular principles and it has developed operational guidelines for managing BINP as a world heritage site. It means that some of BINP‟s decisions and activities are influenced by the international community. Additionally,

and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have a list of species that are considered endangered. To help save these species, they have also through CITES banned the trade in any of their product of these species. CITES and Ramsar conventions are some of the conventions identified in the policies and laws section, and as long as Uganda ratifies these international conventions, it is also bound to follow their regulations. BINP management is positive about these interventions by the international community and recognises their strong input to the park‟s effective management. It also uses these conventions in its conservation policy approach. Through such guidelines regarding endangered species, BINP is able to easily enforce laws that protect them without much opposition from other parties such as local communities or hunters. Additionally, the international community, through organisations such as WCS and IGCP donate money and equipment to BINP and facilitate research among other interventions.

This contributes to the park‟s economic development and sustainable biodiversity conservation, which are part of the park‟s goals.

Furthermore, in terms of support, many NGOs reported to usually give assistance to programmes that are pro-the community (supporting the communities) and pro- tourism (supporting tourism).

They expressed that these sectors especially, that supporting the local communities was ineffective and so endeavour to improve local people‟s benefits from the park. Following the plans and conditions these NGOs lay down, the park‟s achievements and performance becomes better. Regarding financial and technical support, they for example train BINP staff in carrying out census, fund problem animal control interventions such as digging trenches to control animals like elephants from jumping or going to areas outside the park and intervene in issues concerning local people‟s involvement in park management such as being a part of the decision making process.

However, some park authorities stated that they at times see NGOs as not being neutral especially regarding perceptions on local communities‟ involvement in park management. For instance, when deciding how much resources local communities could access from the park, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) was an intermediary institution between park officials and local communities. However, park staff felt that CARE was mainly siding with local communities (Blomley 2003). Such circumstances create tension between park officials and NGO representatives, which may affect how they relate. Communication and

coordination between these two groups may eventually have a negative impact on local communities‟ participation in park management as the park authorities may take advantage of their position during such negotiations.

The research groups mainly contacted in this research were ITFC and CTPH. According to our BINP key informants, research groups answer to requests by UWA and particularly the ones that manage BINP. Any questions that these parks have regarding vegetation, animal life and conservation issues, are responded to by research groups. The research groups are asked to set up experimental sites when a certain resource is being considered to be accessed by local communities. They also carry out research on gorillas and together with UWA, they do research on the possible impacts of tourism on the life of gorillas. Due to the increasing human population around the park, there is a lot of research centered on diseases, which can be transmitted between the gorillas and people. Diseases are the greatest threat to gorilla conservation. The research groups mainly advise BINP to use the well informed information they have researched about.

They also train people who sometimes end up working with BINP or UWA, especially those in management and research. ITFC and CTPH provide information to BINP authorities to make decisions that enable them to carry out their activities. BINP senior staff pointed out that research groups contribute substantially to its management by providing information that enables the park to effectively function through sustainable biodiversity conservation. The information also enables park officials to know how to best manage the park‟s resources.

According to most park staff, academic institutions are rather powerful regarding their contribution to BINP management. They have carried out a lot of research that has benefited the park. For instance, a senior park staff reported that the work on regeneration forest has been strengthened by Makerere University staff that have done studies in BINP. A Makerere university staff reported that the university has also conducted some training on fire protection for rangers in BINP. Additionally, several university staff have worked with some neighbouring communities such as Nyundo to develop a management plan for a forestry part outside BINP. This was done with the aim of reducing pressure on park resources. During the university staff‟s research on plants, the rangers got to learn more and identify plant species which is an advantage to the

park staff also affect research in that research priorities are often decided upon by the park management. BINP‟s perception of researchers is that they play a significant role in the management of the park, and it is because of their activities that the park‟s developmental adjustments are made. In general, we learned that there are many common perceptions between park staff and researchers regarding research being carried out to support park management.

Regarding accommodation groups, BINP staff perceive them as a very important category that supports the park‟s management in relation to tourism. They provide accommodation to the park‟s visitors and through these, guests develop attitudes towards the park. People often judge whether their visit to the park was good or bad by gauging how they were treated by the hotel, camp or lodge employees. Therefore, these people have an important responsibility regarding handling park visitors. They are to ensure that visitors are satisfied with their services in order to minimise complaints. This can be done through good planning and preparations. BINP staff interviewees mentioned that the accommodation facilities around the park are doing their level best and new developments are frequently seen. They have not heard many complaints from visitors. Additionally, BINP receives money from them in form of concession fees as payment for operating in collaboration with park management. Furthermore, the park staff actually encourage lodges, camps and hotels to provide employment to local people. Therefore, they do not only contribute to the park‟s socio-economic development, but also to the economic development of local people.

The majority of BINP officials affirmed that the collaboration between them and local communities has to a certain extent generally improved, not only regarding their relationship, but also the park‟s management. These communities are reported to support BINP management in protecting the park‟s resources. For example, one of the park‟s senior officers mentioned,

“If you have a very good relationship with communities, they actually police the resources themselves. Before rangers are even sent to arrest the poacher, the people in the communities will be the ones to caution the poacher for being a problem in their village, since they know that they benefit from the park. This solves a lot of problems for the park staff; it also reduces the park's management costs because they do not have to employ many people to go find the poachers or illegal plumbers” (BINP key informant