The Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Center (UWEC) has unveiled the African Grey Parrot Conservation Center to save parrot species against poachers who have continued to endanger their lives.
While officiating the unveiling ceremony of the Africa Grey Parrot Conservation Center, Prof. Ushida Kazunari, the Dean of the College of Bioscience and Biotechnology at Chubu University, Japan, revealed that in 2016, the African Grey Parrot was listed on the list as the most endangered species due to a drastic decrease in numbers in western and central Africa. He attributed the reduction in African grey parrots to huge poaching activities.
“Uganda has been so good at promoting conservation of African grey parrot species, so Uganda is one of the countries that provides good habitat for grey parrots, especially in its tropical rain forests. The number of grey parrots in Uganda is still not well determined, but we still feel a certain level of population still exists,” Prof. Ushida expressed optimism.
“The first time I visited the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Center way back in 2014, I was impressed after learning that the conservation center started as a facility for the rescue of animals in 1950 and then evolved into a traditional zoo in the 1990s and is now a vibrant center of conservation. In the 1990s, most Japanese zoos were still working as traditional zoos and had just started talking about conservation, so I appreciate how UWEC has advanced in terms of conservation.”
“Having realized that UWEC already has huge experience conserving a number of grey parrots, we decided to form a partnership project to conserve them, and this is just a start to support this project as I am embroiled in the conservation committees of the Ministry of Environment of the Japanese government. I urge UWEC to promote inside and outside conservation by involving local communities to support conservation. I am so grateful for this opportunity to present the African Grey Parrot Conservation Center and classrooms for people, and this is a key component of our collaboration towards conservation in which we can empower local communities to enhance their livelihoods. I thank the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Uganda office for its financial support towards the African grey parrots.”
The manager in charge of information and education at the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Center (UWEC), Mr.David Musingo, commended the Japanese International Cooperation Agency for its good partnership with Entebbe Zoo, saying the partnership has seen many zoo staff trained in wildlife conservation.
“Our partnership with JICA started a long time ago, in 2008, when we had a partnership with Yokohama Zoo, and it ran successfully. By that time, the focus was on technological transfer and building the capacities of our staff, which saw many of them go to Japan in Yakohoma for conservation studies. Many of them who go for capacity-building programs in Japan come back differently and have greatly improved UWEC facilities. However, when this partnership ended in 2015 , we got worried, but fortunately, after 2 years, that is, in 2017, Prof. Ushida came back and was interested in working with us. So, we briefed him on what we were doing, including the conservation of parrots. Many of them came from Bulgaria, and they had been confiscated at the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.”
He added: “We also discussed how to make UWEC a hub for the African Grey Parrot Conservation Center. The partnership between UWEC and Chubu University, with support from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, was born, and it has yielded a lot of fruit for us. I thank JICA and the people of Japan for this wonderful partnership. The partnership has resulted in the construction of a number of conservation facilities, and more are to be constructed in the future. The African Grey Parrot Conservation Center facility shows a permanent relationship even if the partnership ends, but the structure continues to exist. The partnership has seen our staff trained in Japan and exposed them to the outside world. Many of them who went have come back and delivered very well.”
“The partnership has helped UWEC enhance its research areas on an international level. Now, all the parrots we release into the wild are labeled, and we are able to know how they are surviving and where they came from, and that’s the extent to which we are moving. Finally, we are promoting eco tourism a modern form of tourism where local people benefit through livelihood enterprises like homesteads, birding, and forest walks, all paid services.”
The Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr. Inoue Yoichi, said the construction of an Africa grey parrot conservation center would be used for a wide range of purposes, including research on African grey parrots and training programs for eco tourism and that the construction of the facility should be considered a symbol of the protection of endangered parrot species.
The Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Center (UWEC), Dr. James Musinguzi, noted that the support from the Japanese government is based on mutual trust and respect and that Uganda welcomes its mode of operations because there is mutual respect for everyone’s values and ideas, which is so critical at the country level.
Dr. Musinguzi expressed his gratitude to the Japanese government through its Japanese International Cooperation Agency for supporting UWEC.
“The first elephant held at Entebbe Zoo was supported by a Japanese volunteer who helped us come up with a formula for handling elephants, which we never knew. We have collaborated with the Japanese government in broad areas, for example, the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Project in 2008, and now we have the Japanese Overseas Volunteer Program, where we have volunteers who come to support us in technological transfer and capacity building .
Dr. Musinguzi further urged the local communities to embrace eco-tourism for sustainable livelihoods.