Mpa Mpa Nkuwe (Let’s Share) Programme

The first step of the communication programme was to work with a well-known Ugandan musician, Wesa Kawesa, to produce a song highlighting issues related to the Bwindi park, and to raise awareness about the need for equal and fair distribution of the costs and benefits from conservation activities in the park. The song and accompanying music video were produced and distributed to local television and radio stations around central Kampala and western Uganda. "By creating a conservation song, the project hopes to make conservation 'cool' and, through radio, television, and digital technologies, reach larger audiences."

As inspiration for the song about great ape conservation and poverty alleviation, project organisers accompanied Wesa Kawesa and his production team to the Gorilla Resort Camp at Buhoma. Here the team was able to see and speak with people involved in revenue sharing strategies from gorilla tourism between government, hoteliers, travel and tours companies, and the local communities, particularly the Bakiga and the Batwa pygmy communities. The team met with members of the Batwa tribe and visited their former forest home, where the hunter-gatherers lived in caves and trees alongside the primates before their relocation following the creation of the national park in 1991. "Their strong culture and desire to continue living in harmony with the gorillas was clearly expressed in the songs that they performed..."

Conservation, Environment

PCI Media Impact, Uganda Poverty and Conservation Learning Group (U-PCLG), Arcus Foundation, UK Aid from the UK Government and the UK Government's Darwin Initiative, Jane Goodall Institute