Do you love nature? If you do then you must have celebrated the 14th day of July. It was the World Chimpanzee day. Chimpanzees are part of wild nature that we should jealously treasure, chimps play a big role in maintaining the natural ecosystem. According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, chimps alone contributed 6bn shillings to the National economy in the last financial year. And this comes in through tourism. What if other sectors like film for example, tapped this resource? Much more revenue would be coming in. But survival of these apes especially in the unprotected areas is at stake. Early this month, a crew from Mediavision Academy, with support from the Cross Cultural Foundation Uganda (CCFU) trekked some forests in Kagadi to film the chimps struggling to survive in such areas.
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| Chimpanzee photo shot by Tumanyane Andrew in Muhooro forest |
Up to 500 chimps are surviving in these forests. The chimps have strong relationships with the locals. The locals know the chimps by name and kept on calling the chimps by names to pose for photos. We got amazing chimps footage. Sadly the chimps' habitat is quickly disappearing as communities open more land for farming. This is the 2nd film on chimps Mediavision Academy is making. The first was shot in Kalinzu forest reserve in 2019. The issues affecting the chimps are similar. They all relate to survival amidst increasing human activities in the forests. Conservation measures for the chimps' habitat must be stepped if they are to survive the next 100 years therefore, everyone needs to get on board. Interestingly, the Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda in partnership with other stakeholders is using a cultural approach to conserve the chimps. They are engaging cultural leaders and communities’ conservation awareness and planting of indigenous trees.
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| Tumanyane Andrew on the Camera and Muhumuza Osbert the sound recordist |
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