AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION DONATES RANGER OPERATIONS GEAR FOR FIELD PATROLS

African Wildlife Foundation Donates Ranger Operation gear  for fiels patrols.

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has this morning received operations gear from African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to facilitate better rangers on patrol enforcement operations in the parks. The items include 100 heavy duty single man tents, 300 gumboots reinforced with steel material, 300 safari sleeping pads, 300 metallic water bottles, 400 small size hand sanitizers and 2000 masks.  The items to be distributed across all national parks were handed over by AWF Executive Director Suudi Bamulesewa to UWA Executive Director Sam Mwandha at Uganda Museum on July, 27, 2020 flanked by UWA’s top management.

Bamulesewa noted that due to the current COVID 19 threat, the single man tents donated are not shareable. This he said is specifically intended  to help minimise risk of spread of the disease during extended overnight patrols where rangers camp in the wild for days. “The tents are single man to avoid any disease spread but also avail the rangers with a decent and comfortable place in the night as they go about protection of the national parks during these unprecedented days of the Corona pandemic. The gumboots will offer effective protection of staff during the patrols and can last longer because they are reinforced with steel,” he said.

The ED UWA Sam Mwandha appreciated the long-standing partnership the institution enjoys with AWF and thanked them for the help extended especially during the uncertain time of COVID 19 pandemic. “The sleeping pads will be a great motivation to our rangers on patrol especially in the rainy and cold days,” he said. “I wish to extend our gratitude to AWF for coming through for UWA in dealing with the current challenges where resources have significantly reduced due to the drop in the revenue collected,” Mwandha added.