Before the Covid-19 pandemic, over 90 % of the community members, living around the Murchison Falls Protected Areas, made an income from tourism related activities. Even the Uganda State as a whole was relying very much on tourism contributing to 7.9 percent to the GDP in 2019.

As a direct consequence of the tourism shutdown, local villagers went in the Protected Area to hunt for bush meat, find food, cut down tree cover for charcoal and find other resources for income.

The Environment Governance Institute (EGI) team has been working towards sustainably diversifying livelihoods to build resilience among local communities and awareness raising activities, that got eventually a large attention in the media. Thanks to a well-articulated combination of actions and supportive partnerships, local communities were able to overcome the challenges brought by the pandemic and improve their livelihoods, with a highly positive consequence on the Protected Area’s integrity.