INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND KNOWLEDGE:
MINORITY RIGHTS AND HERITAGE
The 15th International Conference of National Trusts
Entebbe, Uganda
30th September – 4th October 2013
A presentation by: Barnabas Busheshe and Denis Kato
Presentation structure
A brief about Atacama Consulting
Minority groups
Minority groups in Uganda
Conservation versus minority rights
Attempts to evict the Benet
The Benet and conservation
Conclusion
Recommendations
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A brief about Atacama Consulting
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Environmental Consultancy firm established in 2004 and based in
Kampala.
Its four core areas of business include Environmental Assessments
and Audits, Trainings, Evaluations, and Technical Advice and Policy
Analysis.
A Partnership registered with National Environment Management
Authority.
Certified to international standards (ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and OHSAS
18001).
Has carried out numerous assignments for the private, public and
NGO entities.
Firm has a pool of a multi-disciplinary staff and associates and
affiliations with a number of International Consultancy firms.
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Minority Groups
• Oxford dictionary: “Small groups within a community
or country that is different because of race, religion,
language, etc”.
• IFC, “Social groups with identities that are distinct
from mainstream groups in national societies”.
• They are often marginalised and vulnerable among
the population.
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Minority groups in Uganda
• A variety of ethnic groups exist in Uganda.
• Only a few are indigenous.
• Most of the minority groups are indigenous
people.
• Ethnic minority groups comprise an estimated
10% of Uganda’s total population (Minority
Rights Group International).
• Examples;
– The Benet
– The Batwa
– IK
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Rights of minority groups in Uganda
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Article 32 assigns a responsibility to the State to take affirmative action in
favour of groups marginalised including those for reasons created by
history, tradition or custom, for the purpose of redressing imbalances which
exist against them;
Article 36 grants minority groups a right to participate in the decision
making process with due consideration of their views and interests in the
formulation of national plans and programmes;
The Land Act of 1998 and the National Environment Statute of 1995 protect
customary interests in land and traditional uses of forests;
Some ethnic groups continue to be disproportionately affected by the social
problems which include:
– Community conflicts;
– Limited access to social services; and
– Low participation in decision making.
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Life style of the Benet/ Ndorobo
• Benet lived in forests of Mt. Elgon as the native
people before the migration of the Bantu and
Nilotics;
• They are traditionally hunters; honey and fruit
gathers; and
• They relied on forests for herbal medicine, fruits,
vegetables and basket making materials.
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Life style of the Benet
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Location of Benet
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Attempts to resettle the Benet
• In 1983, 6,000 hectares were set aside to resettle the
Benet out of the Mt. Elgon Forests in a bid to
conserve the forest as a National Park.
• In 2002, the Ugandan parliament officially degazetted
the 6,000 hectares in line with the earlier decision to
resettle the “landless” people.
• Civil servants and district leaders in charge of
distributing land instead parceled the land to
themselves while the lucky Benet; sold the land and
returned to the forest. (The daily Monitor 17th June
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2013)
Attempts to resettle Benet Continued….
• There have been numerous land conflicts between
the Benet and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA)
since they were thrown out of their ancestral land;
• The Benet are now demanding re-degazzeting of the
park to allow them room for settlement (Daily
Monitor, Friday 20th September 2013).
• The Benet claim that much of their culture and
customs have been eroded since leaving the forest;
and
• Their livelihood has been watered down to small
scale farming, livestock rearing as well as small
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scale enterprises.
The Benet and conservation
• The Benet valued the environment as part of their
livelihood for various reasons:
– Particular trees were considered sacred - no one got
close unless cleansed;
– Particular trees were associated with life or death;
– Traditional medicine (herbs and particular trees); and
– Mountains were considered a place of worship.
• Should there be conflicts between government,
conservationists and the Benet for such values they
attached to forests?
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Conclusion
• Indigenous people have a greater stake in preservation of
environment and the use of natural resources because of their
culture;
• Exclusion of their interests in national programs that directly
affect them posses great challenges whet it comes to
implementation stage; and
• National strategies should be consistent with indigenous rights
to use land and natural resources as opposed to resettling
them without reaching a consensus.
“People value a lot what they own than what they are told not to
touch. Involving them in conservation strategies increases
chances of success.”
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Recommendations
• Identify and review all property interests and
traditional resource uses of land and natural
resources;
• Development and conservation programs should
consider all the affected stakeholders, minority groups
inclusive;
• There is need for affirmative action to stop the
marginalisation of the minority groups.
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Thank You!
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