Fræðaþing landbúnaðarins - 03.02.2006, Page 370

Fræðaþing landbúnaðarins 2006
TRANSBOUNDARY BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
CHALLENGES; THE CASE OF MT. ELGON, UGANDA AND KENYA
Jon Geir Petursson*
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Noragric, Dep. of Environment and development
Pal Vedeld
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Noragric, Dep. of Environment and development
John Kaboggoza.
Makerere University, Uganda, Faculty of Forestry and Nature conservation
* Corresponding author
INTRODUCTION
This poster gives a brief overview of an ongoing research project, which is essentially a
Phd study carried out by Jon Geir Petursson at Noragric, Department of Intemational
Environmental and Development studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences,
supervised by professor Pál Vedeld.
Transboundary biodiversity and natural resources management
Distribution of natural resources and biodiversity does not respect intemational boundaries,
hence making their management frequently of transboundary character. In Affica, this
becomes especially relevant, given that the intemational boundaries on the continent were
largely decided upon in Europe during the “Scramble for Africa” period, having little
consideration for local socio-cultural, political and ecological conditions (Reader 1999).
The World Bank defines the term transboundary protected areas as: "Relatively large areas,
which straddle ffontiers (boundaries) between two or more countries and cover large-scale
natural systems encompassing one or more protected areas." (WorldBank 1996). Currently,
about 170 transboundary-protected area complexes are found worldwide, involving 113
different countries (Zbicz 2001).
The Mt. Elgon area
The Mt. Elgon massive is an isolated mountain ecosystem on the border between two
sovereign states, Uganda and Kenya. Mt. Elgon is endowed with exceptionally high
biodiversity of renowned global importance (Howard, Davenport et al. 2000). The areas
surrounding the mountain forests are very densely populated, the highest density around
600 people/km2. The majority are poor subsistence farmers depending upon various
products and environmental services ffom the forests on the mountain. Forest management
strategies have therefore direct effects on the peoples livelihood and well-being (Scott
1998). The daunting managerial challenge in the area is therefore to seek a balance
between conservation and development goals.
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