Our Work/Protect Wildlife

Protect
wildlife

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

Priority 02 of
The Integrated
Restoration Model
01Rebuild Ecosystems02Protect Wildlife03Sustainable Finance04Empower 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
01Joint patrol operations led by the reserve's law enforcement team alongside Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers
02Deployment of helicopters, vehicles, motorcycles, and patrol equipment
03Rehabilitation and construction of ranger outposts and accommodation
04A reserve airstrip built to support aerial surveillance
05EarthRanger installed and staff trained: trend mapping, patrol mapping, and intelligence management guiding patrols, monitoring, and logistics
06Recruitment of 50 additional rangers planned for 2026 to expand coverage
A ranger on foot patrol, giraffe on the horizon
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
Ranger patrol vehicle on a track through the reserve
Built for the field

Protection runs on infrastructure.

19
Motorcycles deployed

Putting ranger patrols within reach of every corner of the reserve, alongside three dedicated patrol vehicles.

1.1 km
Fenced airstrip

Constructed and registered with the CAA, opening the reserve to aerial patrols and survey flights.

66 km
Road network built

Constructed since 2022, so patrols, monitoring teams and emergency response can move in any season.

Roads, airstrips and patrol fleets are not the story. They are what lets rangers reach wildlife before poachers do.

Support this priority
On patrol

The ranger force

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