\u201cHaving Echuya elevated to that level of protection is massive,\u201d says Badru Mugerwa, founder and director of Embaka<\/a>, an NGO, and of the African Golden Cat Conservation Alliance (AGCCA). \u201cThe African golden cat is one of those species that are being pushed to extinction in the forest.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), it\u2019s also a win for a multitude of other species, he adds, as Echuya is home to more than 100 bird species, many of them endemic to the region, as well as to baboons (Papio anubis), blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) and other mammal species.<\/p>\n Echuya Forest<\/a> covers around 3,400 hectares (8,400 acres) in Uganda\u2019s extreme southwest near the Rwandan border, and is split between the districts of Kisoro and Rubanda. It\u2019s currently a protected reserve. The declaration elevating it to a national park is part of a wider announcement by Uganda\u2019s government as it creates six new national parks<\/a>, bringing the country\u2019s total to 16.<\/p>\n The news of this added level of protection is welcome, says Emmanuel Akampurira, deputy director of the Embaka Echuya Project, who notes that numerous threats have persisted in Echuya in recent years, degrading the forest and impacting African golden cats and other species.<\/p>\n The biggest threat, he says, remains indiscriminate snaring by hunters targeting antelopes and bush pigs for bushmeat consumption and small-scale trade in the forest. Inadvertent trapping of golden cats, combined with pressure on this patch of habitat from the harvesting of natural resources, forest degradation, and climate change, has put this forest-dependent cat under severe pressure here.<\/p>\n Surveys conducted by Mugerwa\u2019s team in 2014 and 2015<\/a> suggest that the status of African golden cats in Echuya Forest is perilous. While in nearby Bwindi Impenetrable National Park it took only three days of camera-trapping to snap one, it took about 90 days of efforts just to record one of these cats on camera at Echuya. Over the course of the next year his team plans an extensive camera-trapping effort in the forest to pin down its current population numbers and densities.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hoped that the new national park status can turn that high-risk situation around. Mugerwa says his team\u2019s data indicate such protected areas can act as strongholds for this species in Uganda and possibly elsewhere in Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with camera traps, we are seeing really low detections of the species in forest reserves compared to national parks,\u201d Mugerwa says. \u201cWe believe that protected areas, especially national parks, remain the strongholds for the African golden cat.\u201d<\/p>\n Mugerwa also says his organization\u2019s efforts to raise the African golden cat\u2019s profile, and the actions of other organizations in Echuya, such as Nature Uganda and the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation, have helped build the case for the new national park.<\/p>\n Since 2015, Embaka has sought to address threats to the African golden cat by working closely with hunting communities to identify their needs. This includes providing goat and sheep \u201cseed banks\u201d to community members, particularly former hunters, as a way of promoting alternatives to bushmeat. These work by donating the first newborn goat or sheep to the owners\u2019 neighbors. The NGO has also started community savings and loan associations (known as Conservation Pesa, the Swahili word for \u201cmoney\u201d) to enhance quality of life, and helped organize community soccer matches to build goodwill between conservation groups and local people.<\/p>\n It soon plans to offer free oral health care and dental treatment (dubbed Smiles for Conservation) to community members, done as an incentive to inspire local support for conservation projects that Embaka and AGCCA are implementing in other forest habitats of the African golden cat.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough these activities we have been raising awareness and engaging with communities to talk to people about conservation of the African golden cat and the entire conservation of the forest,\u201d Akampurira says.<\/p>\n Jane Amumpaire, natural resources officer with the Rubanda district government, notes that the new national park will also bring opportunities for tourism, benefiting local communities. The government, she adds, plans to duplicate a revenue-sharing method used elsewhere in Uganda, including at Bwindi National Park, distributing a portion of park income to nearby communities.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a conservationist, I think it\u2019s a good approach to make sure that there\u2019s thorough management of the forest, and that [the government] reward[s] the communities that are living near the park, so that they can see the benefits of conservation,\u201d Amumpaire says.<\/p>\n Though hailed as a conservation win, the new park declaration has been met with skepticism by some communities with which Embaka works, Akampurira says. Especially unconvinced are the Indigenous Batwa peoples, who depend on the forest for their livelihoods \u2014 obtaining honey, firewood and medicinal plants there for use and sale. But Akampurira says he believes community access to the forest arranged under the new national park may offer a solution. \u201cThis is a challenge that could be overcome,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Others have expressed concern that Echuya may become a site for the translocation of animals, such as elephants, giraffes and rhinos, raising fears of human-wildlife conflict. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of a mixture of excitement and also of skepticism from the communities,\u201d Akampurira says.<\/p>\n While the national park announcement presents some challenges to be overcome, Mugerwa says he\u2019s confident the designation will bring greater protection for Echuya Forest, the possibility of expanding projects to support more communities, and will gain the attention of other NGOs and stakeholders.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a win for conservation,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd hopefully moving forward, we may be able to replicate some of the numbers, or the densities, of African golden cats we are seeing elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Banner image: The African golden cat (Caracal aurata) is a medium-sized felid (though it\u2019s classified as one of the world\u2019s 33 small cat species). In Echuya Forest, it\u2019s the largest predator remaining due to the extirpation of leopards from that forest. Image courtesy of Embaka.<\/p>\n FEEDBACK: Use this form<\/a> to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n Africa\u2019s little-known golden cat gets a conservation boost, with community help<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Echuya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image_5.jpg\")
Echuya Forest hosts a wide array of biodiversity, including more than 100 bird species. Among them is the regal sunbird (Cinnyris regius). Image by Giles Bassi\u00e8re via Flickr<\/a> (CC BY 2.0<\/a>).<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image_2.jpg\")
An African golden cat photographed by a camera trap in Echuya Forest Reserve in 2015. Image courtesy of the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation\/Embaka.
\nBalancing community needs with conservation<\/p>\n![\"Embaka,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image_4.jpg\")
Embaka, an NGO, began a program that distributes goats and sheep to community members to improve livelihoods of former hunters in communities around Echuya Forest. Image courtesy of Embaka \/ AGCCA.<\/p>\n![\"Community](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image_3-1.jpg\")
Community members at a meeting to decide which interventions by conservation groups and local government best suit their needs. Image courtesy of Embaka \/ AGCCA.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image_6.jpg\")
An African golden cat with its left front paw caught in a snare. Snaring can deplete forests of prey and also catch African golden cats. It\u2019s hoped the new national park designation, along with its community livelihood and income support programs, will reduce hunting pressure and other threats in Echuya. Image courtesy of the Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Initiative\/AGCCA&WG.<\/p>\n