Tourist Agroforestry Landscape from the Perception of Local Communities: A Case Study of Rwenzori, Uganda

Simone Iacopino, Carlo Piazzi, Julius Opio, Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi, Efrem Ferrari, Filippo Caporale and Tommaso Sitzia
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Simone Iacopino: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Carlo Piazzi: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Julius Opio: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Efrem Ferrari: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Filippo Caporale: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Tommaso Sitzia: Department Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The Bakonjo have long practiced an agroforestry system of cultivation on the Ugandan slopes of the Rwenzori Mountain range. All terrain above 1600–2200 m has been strictly protected for many years because it is part of a national park. As a trade-off, the landscapes outside the park have been largely deforested. In the meantime, tourist numbers have increased. In Ruboni, a village of 1200 people, the closest to the eastern gate of the park, we interviewed a random sample of 51 residents aged >14 to understand how they perceived the landscape, park and tourism. Cultivated features were not essential to describe the place of residence, in contrast to natural features and human engineered devices. Cultivated and natural elements were judged as beautiful. Even if the inhabitants did not like human engineered facilities, they welcomed their improvement. The origin of native and non-native plants was not consistently recognized. These results show that the inhabitants feel affection for the agroforestry pattern of the Rwenzori landscape. However, ecological, social and economic pressures are challenging land use sustainability. This would be better addressed by an integrated pattern of land governance than the current two models: strict protection inside the park and relaxed land use outside.

Keywords: land cover and land use change; local community; biodiversity conservation; invasive non-native species; Senna spectabilis; Lantana camara; nature protection; tourism development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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