Conflict-sensitive Conservation: Field report from Queen Elizabeth National Park

This field report details a December 2006 workshop designed to pilot the 'Conflict Sensitivity in Conservation (CSC) Manual' using conflict scenarios from Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda. The report documents the application of conflict analysis tools—including conflict trees, conflict mapping, and stakeholder analysis—to identify and prioritise natural resource-based conflicts, their root causes, and potential entry points for intervention by conservation and development organisations.

• The prioritisation exercise identified 'competing land use conflicts' as the highest-ranked conflict category, followed by 'policy gaps and inconsistent implementation'. These were evaluated based on conservation severity, livelihood severity, and geographic scope.
• Encroachment into protected areas by pastoralists is driven by a complex set of root causes, including population pressure, limited land outside parks, ethnic conflicts between the Bakonzo and Basongora, and a culture of maintaining large herds.
• Policy failure in the region is attributed to a lack of local participation in national policy making, corruption, and institutional disputes, such as overlapping management claims for the Kazinga Channel between the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Department for Fisheries and Resources.
• Stakeholder analysis reveals conflicting positions regarding the Basongora pastoralists: while the UWA and local government generally maintain that encroachers should be resettled outside the park, Basongora lobby groups claim the land is ancestral and seek political representation.
• The report identifies specific entry points for the CARE REPA Programme to address conflicts, including promoting dialogue between communities and the UWA, monitoring policy implementation, and supporting Problem Animal Management (PAM) initiatives.
• Queen Elizabeth National Park is characterized by high biodiversity and significant livelihood value, with Lake George and Lake Edward described as the most productive fisheries in Africa.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2009). Conflict-sensitive Conservation: Field report from Queen Elizabeth National Park. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/conflict_queen_elizabeth_park.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Conflict-sensitive Conservation: Field report from Queen Elizabeth National Park. 2009. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/conflict_queen_elizabeth_park.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Conflict-sensitive Conservation: Field report from Queen Elizabeth National Park |date=2009 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/conflict_queen_elizabeth_park.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2009conflictsensitive, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Conflict-sensitive Conservation: Field report from Queen Elizabeth National Park}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2009}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/conflict_queen_elizabeth_park.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }