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= Uganda Conservation Foundation =

= Overview = Founded in 2001, Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) is a Uk registered charity (number 1087295) and not for profit organisation in Uganda. By working with local partners, most notably the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), UCF works to recover and manage protected areas, promoting regional recovery and reducing poaching and wildlife crime.

Origins
UCF was founded in 2001 by Michael Keigwin who, prior to doing so, was responsible for running the Elephants, Crops and People project in Queen Elizabeth National Park. After returning home in 1999 to work for Deloitte in the UK Michael, with the support of various donors and the UWA, established UCF with the aim of recovering Uganda's national parks.

To this date UCF has worked in Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary & Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Recovery of Murchison Falls programme:
In 2012, UCF partnered with UWA to support them in their bid to put a stop to increasingly common incidences of poaching. Through this project UCF has managed to develop the appropriate infrastructure to combat poaching by training and equipping rangers, building a state of the art communications system and by providing vehicles.

UCF has established and managed an educational program within the communities on the fringes of the park. Through this program UCF has put 80 young people through vocational training.

Since its inception, the recovery of Murchison falls project has constructed 12 key Ranger posts in strategic locations around the park. This has been fundamental in fighting poaching and helping animal numbers to increase. Rothschild Giraffe numbers have increased from 400 to 2000 whilst elephant numbers have increased to around 3000.

UCF have also implemented a new surveillance system in the park to help in the fight against poaching.

Wildlife Ranger challenge:
The Wildlife Ranger challenge was established in 2020 to support rangers across Africa who had been negatively impacted by covid 19. The Uganda arm of the event, which comprises of ranger teams running a half marathon with 22kg on their back, took place in Queen Elizabeth national park in both 2020 & 2021 and was managed by UCF with the support of the overall event organisers.

Recovery of Queen Elizabeth Protected Area Programme

 * Uganda Carnivore & Scavenger Programme
 * Transboundary development programme between Kidepo Valley, Uganda and Western Pokot, Kenya.
 * Elephants Crops and People project
 * Wildlife Ranger challenge