Echuya Forest Reserve on your Uganda Birding Safari: Echuya forest reserve is a wonderful bird watching destination, it is found in the south-western part of Uganda along the intersection of Kabale district and Kisoro towards the border of Uganda and Rwanda. This forest reserve is an amazing place to visit on your safari in Uganda and it’s basically a montane type of rainforest covering something like 3,400ha and about 7km long and it’s about 750m wide. Originally, it was a joined to Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park therefore it was one forest and only split years later. This forest is largely covered by bamboo and it is a very important source of bamboo that is used for commercial and person purposes across the country.
According to research, there are about 150 different bird species that live in this forest, 18 of them are endemic to this reserve for example the elusive Grauer’s Swamp warbler. Echuya forest reserve also ranks as this country’s most significant forest habitat because of the fact that it has this really unique flora and fauna therefore a sanctuary of different plants and birds, which is why it has got much potential to sustain and protect the different tourism projects.
This area is densely populated but also has the poorest agricultural system therefore facing limited threat from the human activities except for the fact that its source of bamboo, firewood and other resources that people locals will need. It is a water catchment area that encourages an amazing interaction between the community and the forest. The survival of this conservation highly attributed to the kind of support that the neighboring communities offer.
On the day of birding, a well-trained guide will take you through the forest as you search for these birds and he will help you identify the different species because he is an expert. Any bird watcher interested in visiting this forest, you should expect to have the best time, s/he might be able to see more than half of the total number of species if the birder is knee enough. Some of the different bird species living in this forest include;
Dwarf Honey guide, Kivu ground thrush, Red-throated Alethe, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Archer’s Robin-Chat, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Grauer’s Warbler, Rwenzori Batis, Collared Apalis, Strip-breasted Tit, Doherty’s Bush-Shrike, Mountain Masked Apalis, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Brown-capped Weaver, Montane Oriole, Regal Sunbird, Strange Weaver.
There is also the Strange Weaver as well as so many more other species.
Besides the birds, locals say this forest used to be a home to lots of animals too for example the elephants, large herds of buffalos, lots of antelopes and so many duikers. Today however, all you can find are troops of blue monkeys, there is a big number of colobus monkeys too and a small population of baboons. There are also 19 different small mammal species, lots of butterflies which make the forest look colorful and a few more attractions. There is also a big swamp in the middle of the forest and there you will find the sedges, the heathers and lots of giant lobelias growing.
The Batwa people who are the locals living around this forest no longer live and depend entirely on the Echuya forest and they stopped way before conservationists gazette it. From that time, there have been different forest management policies and demographic as well as social changes. The Batwa quit staying inside the forest together with their families and live the forest to birds and animals thereby supporting the conservation effort. Most of these Batwa people live in poverty, they stay in huts that are almost collapsing, they do not own land therefore they servants to the landowners. They do the hard and unskilled kind of jobs for the landowners for example guarding crops from birds in the case of cereals and animals like monkeys, which destroy crops and this is done in exchange for may be food, shelter but most times, they ask for a tiny piece of land on which he can build his small hut. This is where he will call home.
Birding is an amazing a tourism activity, which you can be done alongside other activities but if you choose to go for a birding safari, you may have to choose any of the so many birding spots in Uganda and Echuya is among the best sites to go to for bird watching. Bird watching in Uganda begins from the moment you land at the airport and if you are a knee bird watcher, you will be able to see so many different birds during your drive from the airport to the hotel, which is amazing.
