Our Work/Protect Wildlife

Protect
wildlife

The enabling foundation: without effective protection, nothing else can take hold.

Priority 02 of 04
The Integrated
Restoration Model
01Rebuild Ecosystems 02Protect Wildlife 03Sustainable Finance 04Empower Communities ← All four priorities
What we are doing

Without effective law enforcement and ranger operations, no amount of restoration or community investment can take hold. Pian Upe's wildlife cannot recover while it is still being lost.

When the co-management partnership began in 2022, the reserve had inadequate vehicles, limited patrol capacity, poor communication infrastructure, and insufficient coverage of its 200,000 hectares. Rebuilding operational capability has been a central focus of the first three years, and the platform every other priority stands on.

Protection is not one priority among four. It is the ground the other three stand on.

What this looks like on the ground
01 Joint patrol operations led by the reserve's law enforcement team alongside Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers
02 Deployment of helicopters, vehicles, motorcycles, and patrol equipment
03 Rehabilitation and construction of ranger outposts and accommodation
04 A reserve airstrip built to support aerial surveillance
05 EarthRanger installed and staff trained: trend mapping, patrol mapping, and intelligence management guiding patrols, monitoring, and logistics
06 Recruitment of 50 additional rangers planned for 2026 to expand coverage
A ranger on foot patrol, giraffe on the horizon
Every recovery starts with protection
Progress so far

This priority absorbs the bulk of it.

Operational capability
✓Three dedicated reserve vehicles deployed for patrol operations
✓19 motorcycles deployed for ranger patrols
✓JCB, tractor and other plant machinery procured for road construction and maintenance
✓1.1 km fenced airstrip constructed and registered with CAA
✓66 km of road network constructed since 2022
Law enforcement
✓Improved patrol operations, including helicopter and fixed-wing aerial patrols
✓EarthRanger patrol mapping system operational, documenting illegal activities
✓Multiple seizures of bushmeat, illegal firearms, snares, and charcoal
Species monitoring
✓Two aerial wildlife censuses completed, establishing Uganda's most detailed baseline count for this reserve (4% increase in total numbers)
✓Nubian Giraffe Identification Database established: 52 individual animals tracked by photographic ID
✓Cheetah identification programme operational using Wildbook software
✓Systematic wildlife sightings recorded via EarthRanger
Management Effectiveness
+25%
relative improvement in two years
IMET 202330.9%
IMET 202538.6%

Scored across six IMET domains. Driven by better field mobility, the EarthRanger monitoring system, stronger collaboration, and structured planning.

How we measure progress

Effectiveness is scored, not assumed.

30.9%
The 2023 baseline

The first IMET assessment: honest, published, and the mark every later score is checked against.

38.6%
The 2025 score

Driven by field mobility, EarthRanger, stronger collaboration, and disciplined planning.

~25%
Relative improvement

In the partnership's first two years, measured with the IUCN's Integrated Management Effectiveness Toolkit.

Wildlife cannot recover while it is still being lost. Protection makes everything else possible.

Support this priority See the impact
On patrol

The ranger force

UWA rangers and community monitoring rangers at work across the reserve.
Rangers on morning parade at the reserve headquarters
Morning parade
A ranger on a rocky outcrop above the plains at dusk
High ground
A ranger reviewing patrol data on the EarthRanger system
EarthRanger control
A community monitoring ranger with camera and GPS
Monitoring ranger
Recording sightings in the patrol log
The patrol log
A ranger photographing giraffe on the open plains
Counting giraffe
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