Uganda Wildlife Act

The Act's purpose is to provide for conservation and sustainable management of wildlife in Uganda, protection of species, control of imports/exports, implementation of international agreements, promotion of tourism and public participation, and it requires the Authority and persons administering the Act to base measures on scientific information and community views.

This section provides definitions and interpretation for terms used in the Act (for example: “aircraft”, “alien species”, “animal”, “Authority”, “biodiversity”, “Board”, “CITES”, “Minister”, “wildlife”, etc.).

Ownership of wild animals and plants in the wild vests in the Government for the people; lawful takers, licensees or prior owners may own specimens subject to the Act; persons may not claim ownership of protected dead/dying animals or cut protected plants except under licence; the Minister may, on Board advice, make regulations for registration and management of cultural specimens.

Specifies the composition of the Board, requires the Minister to appoint the Chairperson, designates the Executive Director as Secretary and non-voting ex officio member, and prohibits appointment of persons holding a running concession with the Authority.

The Chairperson and members of the Board are entitled to be paid remuneration specified by the Minister.

A member of the Board (except the Executive Director) must hold office for three years or until their appointment is revoked; a member may be re-appointed for one further term only.

The Minister may remove a Board member (except the Executive Director) for listed causes; a member may resign by giving thirty days’ written notice to the Minister; where there is cause under subsection (2) the Minister must notify the member in writing and give an opportunity to explain.

When a Board member vacates their seat the Chairperson (or the Secretary if the Chairperson is the one who vacated) must notify the Minister, and the Minister must appoint a replacement for the remainder of the term; if the Chairperson's office is vacant the Minister appoints one of the members as Chairperson for the unexpired term.

The Board may appoint committees, specify their terms, and committees may perform delegated functions and regulate procedure subject to Board directions.

The Board must follow the procedure set out in Schedule 2 when conducting its meetings.

Establishes an Executive Director: appointment by Minister on Board recommendation; the Executive Director is chief executive, must run day-to-day operations and administration, implement plans and management for conservation, manage staff subject to Board direction, delegate when directed, report quarterly and annually, and serves a four-year term renewable once; lists grounds for ceasing to hold office.

Staff authorised to possess firearms are subject to regulations made by the Minister in consultation with the Inspector General of Police; the Board appoints other staff and establishes or reviews staff positions and determines terms and conditions of service (which may cover powers of search and arrest, training, discipline and use of firearms); prosecutions under the Act are conducted by an officer exercising powers of a public prosecutor subject to Article 120(3) and (4)(a) of the Constitution and directions of the Director of Public Prosecutions; established staff positions are published in the Gazette.

The Board may appoint an honorary wildlife officer on the advice of the Executive Director; the Board determines the terms and conditions and may determine the area or function for which the appointment is effective.

Establishes a community wildlife committee for each wildlife conservation area and lists its functions, membership, appointment process, and that the Minister prescribes terms and conditions by statutory instrument.

The Ministry must supervise the sector, including planning, policy development, control of international wildlife trade, coordination of agreements, and monitoring and evaluation.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority is established as a corporate body (the Authority) with perpetual succession and a common seal; it may hold property, sue and be sued, and perform acts of a corporate body, remains the existing Authority subject to this Act, and is under the Minister's general supervision.

The Authority is empowered to perform a broad set of wildlife management functions and must, as far as possible and in line with the Act, consult and cooperate with related lead agencies.

The Authority may delegate functions in writing to a lead agency, committee or public officer; and where it does so it must make arrangements with the lead agency to facilitate performance of the delegated functions.

The governing body of the Authority must be the Board. The Board must be appointed by the Minister with the approval of Cabinet.

The Board has multiple duties including trusteeship for wildlife, recommending policy and conservation declarations, approving plans and finances, managing funds, promoting education and appointing technical committees.

The Board must develop a conservation planning manual; the Executive Director must (with the Board's approval) prepare and publish management plans, notify and invite suggestions, request district councils to send proposals within twenty-one days, hold public and council meetings, consider submissions and prepare a draft, and submit the draft to the Board for approval.

The Executive Director may, with the Board's approval, enter into commercial or collaborative arrangements for managing conservation areas, providing services/infrastructure, or managing species; persons entering such arrangements must submit a management plan in the prescribed form and manner.

Developers whose projects may significantly affect wildlife must undertake an environmental impact assessment; the Authority must perform lead-agency functions for EIA unless the Authority is the developer.

The Authority must, in consultation with the National Environment Management Authority, carry out or cause to be carried out audits and monitoring of projects that impact on wildlife in accordance with the National Environment Act and its regulations.

The Minister may, by statutory instrument and after consulting the local government council and with Parliament's approval, declare land or water to be a wildlife conservation area.

The section requires declarations to specify whether a wildlife conservation area will be a wildlife protected area or a wildlife management area and to give the name and detailed boundary description.

Lists the purposes for declaring wildlife protected areas and wildlife management areas, including preservation of biotic communities, protection of aesthetic areas, preservation of rare species, water catchment conservation, generating economic benefits, scientific study, public enjoyment, and co-existence and sustainable use in management areas.

Where an area is intended to be declared a wildlife conservation area and the process has started, the Minister may make temporary administrative management arrangements (for up to six months) after consulting local government councils and on the Board's recommendation, must publish notice in the Gazette, the Executive Director shall manage the area under those arrangements, and a person who fails to comply with directives by the Executive Director or authorised officers commits an offence.

A person in a wildlife conservation area must not hunt, take, kill, injure or disturb wild or domestic animals; must not take or damage objects of scientific or cultural interest; must not prepare land, prospect for minerals, drive in wild animals or introduce domestic animals into protected areas; and must not start fires without lawful authority.

It is an offence for a person to enter, attempt to enter, reside in, or attempt to reside in a wildlife protected area without the Authority's permission; staff on official duty (Ministry, Authority, Police, Prisons or Army) are exempt; the Authority may issue permits subject to any prescribed fee.

The Executive Director must ensure that the annual harvest does not exceed the sustainable yield level, subject to section 35.

The Authority must create guidelines allowing neighbouring communities sustainable access to historically crucial resources; it may study and protect historical or cultural interests of communities around wildlife conservation areas; and it must recommend to the Minister that rights in protected areas be acquired in the public interest under Article 237(2)(a) if continued private ownership hinders sustainable wildlife management.

The Minister may make regulations for managing declared wildlife conservation areas; those regulations may set conditions on entry, use of fire, introduction of species, and may prescribe penalties including fines, imprisonment, daily penalties for continuing contraventions, higher penalties for repeat contraventions, and forfeiture.

Persons must not import, export or re-export species or specimens without a permit or without passing through a designated customs post or port; the CITES Management Authority may issue permits on the advice of the CITES Scientific Authority. Conviction carries a fine up to ten thousand currency points or life imprisonment, or both.

The Minister may make regulations, after consulting the Minister responsible for trade, imposing additional restrictions on import, export, re-export or transit of wildlife species or wildlife specimen; contravention is an offence.

Section Declaration of protected species Section The Minister shall, by statutory instrument, on the recommendation of the Board , publish in the Gazette an updated list of wildlife species of Uganda indicating the following conservation

Defines classes A–H of wildlife use rights and authorises the Minister to vary, revoke or create wildlife use rights by statutory instrument on the Board's advice; requires the CITES Management Authority to set annual species quotas on the Board's recommendation for extractive uses.

People must not engage in activities involving the utilisation of wildlife or wildlife products under section 35 or similar activities without a wildlife use right.

Persons, communities or a lead agency may apply to the Authority for one or more wildlife use rights; applications must be made in the prescribed form and manner, accompanied by the prescribed fee and containing prescribed information, and communities must submit statements about community procedures and representation where applicable.

Sets how the Authority considers and decides applications for wildlife use rights, including timelines (21 and 60 days), consultation steps, information requests, fees based on income percentage, and a two-year commencement requirement for granted rights.

The Authority may take a range of actions if a holder of a wildlife use right is not complying with its terms, and the Authority must inspect activities to determine compliance and allow persons involved an opportunity to be heard.

The Authority may issue and serve a compliance notice when a holder of a wildlife use right appears not to be complying, the notice must specify certain particulars, and a person served must comply with its terms.

Within 21 days of service, a person served with a compliance notice may request the Authority in writing to reconsider it; the Authority must reconsider within 21 days of receipt, notify its decision, may confirm/variate/suspend/withdraw the notice, and must give the requester an oral hearing opportunity before deciding.

If someone served with a compliance notice fails to act, the Authority may enter the person's land or buildings (or authorise others to do so) to take necessary action, and may recover the expenses as a civil debt.

The Authority may serve a stop notice prohibiting activity referred to in a compliance notice; the notice must specify an effective date (not earlier than two days and not later than fourteen days after first service). Failure to comply is an offence with fines, possible life imprisonment and forfeiture and payment up to three times the value of specimens.

The Authority may issue and serve a notice varying a wildlife use right for reasons such as natural disaster; affected holders must comply; holders may request reconsideration for personal reasons; where variation reasons are general the Authority will not accept individual requests and must reconsider at least once every six months.

Sets procedures and rights when a wildlife use right is revoked: the Authority may issue and serve a notice; holders must comply immediately; holders revoked for non-personal/general reasons may seek reconsideration; the Authority must reconsider general revocations at least every six months; revoked holders are entitled to proportional remission of yearly fee and may claim compensation.

A holder of a wildlife use right may surrender the right in writing at any time to the Authority; a holder who surrenders is not entitled to remission of fees or compensation for losses attributable to the surrender, and surrender does not absolve the holder from civil or criminal liabilities arising before or from past exercises of the right.

Sets how wildlife use rights and quotas may be transferred, defines “permitted” and “market” transfers, imposes duties on transferors and transferees to update certificates, makes quota transfers without Authority permission an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment, and gives the Minister power to make statutory instruments on transferability on the Authority's recommendation.

The Authority may change conditions when granting a permitted transfer, and where it grants one it must assist transferor and transferee to comply with duties; applications must be signed by proposed transferee and transferor.

Market transfers of wildlife use rights must follow prescribed form and fees; transferors and transferees must inform the Authority and may request its view; the Authority must reply within thirty days, register transfers within sixty days of signing, take steps to enable registration when parties submit forms within fourteen days, and compensate parties for loss caused by its failure to register.

Holders of a wildlife use right must manage the land and buildings where the right is exercised, ensure people are aware of and comply with the terms and obtain necessary permissions, and must indemnify persons harmed; the Minister may make regulations (in consultation with the Board) about hiring or exercising officer powers related to guarding wildlife and detaining suspected offenders.

The Authority may issue professional hunters' or trappers' licences to a person on terms and conditions it considers necessary and on payment of a prescribed fee; the Minister may, on the advice of the Board, make regulations prescribing requirements, application form and manner, procedures for granting, penalties for non-compliance and other matters the Board considers necessary.

A person who does not hold a licence issued under this Part must not conduct business as, advertise as, solicit work as, or for gain assist in hunting as a professional hunter or trapper, with a limited exception for acting as a guide, tracker, porter or similar capacity.

The Board may cancel a licence on recommendation of the Executive Director for specified licensee misconduct; the Executive Director must immediately suspend pending cancellation and must notify the licensee in writing of suspension or cancellation and the reason.

The Board may, on the advice of the Executive Director and by notice in the Gazette, declare an animal or class of animals to be vermin.

The Authority or any lead agency may hire professional hunters or trappers or deploy qualified officers to manage vermin; the Authority must build local government capacity; the Executive Director must advise local government at all times on vermin value and recommend management methods.

A person may kill or attempt to kill a wild animal in self-defence or in defence of another person; anyone who kills such an animal must prove it was done in self-defence or defence of another person.

Killing a wild animal under section 56 does not by itself transfer ownership of the carcass; a person who kills such an animal must report it to an officer as soon as practicable and, unless entitled by licence, must hand over the carcass or parts as the officer directs; contravening the section is an offence.

Persons who believe a wild animal may cause material damage may report it to an officer; officers who receive such reports must assess the threat, report to the Authority, take action to minimise damage, consider species status, and only kill the animal as a last resort if survival of the species will not be endangered.

If a person accidentally kills a wild animal they must as soon as practicable report it to an officer and, where possible, hand over the carcass or part of it; persons with a wildlife use right or permit in the circumstances of the killing are exempt; contravention is an offence.

Persons who wound wild animals must capture, kill or report them; following wounded animals into conservation areas or private land without permission is not permitted; reporters must notify officers or landowners who decide next steps.

If a person wounds a dangerous animal and does not kill or capture it within twenty hours, they must immediately report this to an officer; an officer who receives the report must locate and assess the animal and decide whether to kill it and may kill it as part of steps to minimise threat; if the animal is wild, killing must follow the Act's conditions.

Lists the permitted sources of funds for the Wildlife Fund and states that the existing Wildlife Fund continues in existence subject to this Act.

Sets administration and revenue rules for the Fund: the Board is responsible for administering the Fund; the Executive Director must deposit Authority-collected money into the Fund; the Board may authorise withdrawals for Authority functions in line with the approved work plan and budget; the Board must authorise payment of 20% of park entry fees to the local government as a conditional grant; and the Minister may make regulations, on the Board's advice and consulting local government and stakeholders, for managing that revenue sharing.

The Board must operate the Fund on sound financial and commercial principles, ensure revenue covers expenditure; the Board may invest Fund money with the Minister's approval and may borrow for the Fund with the prior approval of the Minister and the Minister responsible for finance.

The Executive Director must prepare and submit annual estimates of the Authority's income and expenditure to the Board three months before the financial year, and must prepare and submit supplementary estimates as needed for Board approval.

The Board must keep proper accounting records and prepare an annual report; the Fund's accounts must be audited by the Auditor General; the Minister must lay the report before Parliament.

The Fund's financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June of the following year.

If a person is convicted of an offence under this Act for which no penalty is provided, they are liable: for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding 350 currency points or imprisonment not exceeding ten years (or both); for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding 500 currency points or imprisonment not exceeding twenty years (or both).

A person must not, without a permit issued under this Act, take, hunt, molest, reduce into possession, possess, sell, buy, transfer or accept transfer of a protected specimen.

When someone is convicted for using or possessing a hunting device contrary to the Act, the court must order that the device be destroyed or obliterated.

When a person is convicted under this Act and the court considers forfeiture necessary, the court must declare articles used in the offence forfeited to the Authority and must cause protected specimens (section 71) to be forfeited; disposal of forfeited items is subject to sections 76–79.

When a court must declare forfeiture of a registrable article under section 75(1) and (2), the court must make a conditional order of forfeiture; the Executive Director must publish and notify specified parties within set timeframes; third parties may apply within 60 days to discharge the order; the applicant bears the burden of proof; courts decide and may declare absolute forfeiture or order disposal; claimants under rental agreements are prevented from repossessing pending the application.

If an article requiring registration is seized and the responsible person is unknown or fails to appear, the Executive Director may apply to court for forfeiture and the court must make a conditional forfeiture order.

Where a person is convicted of illegal trading in wildlife, the court may order disclosure, valuation and forfeiture of assets; persons and organisations holding such assets must cooperate; failure to comply is an offence.

If a holder of a wildlife use right, licensee, or holder of a permit or certificate issued under this Act is convicted of an offence under this Act involving that licence, permit, certificate or wildlife use right, the licence, permit, certificate or wildlife use right is automatically revoked.

The Executive Director may take possession of protected specimens and, depending on the specimen's condition and with required approvals, may destroy, donate, sell, retain, return, or temporarily withhold specimens; where the Executive Director receives a confiscated specimen, domestic animal or article they must record receipt in the prescribed register and safeguard it until disposal under this section.

Money obtained from the sale of a specimen or article must be paid into the Fund.

The Executive Director must hold any specimen, domestic animal or article in their custody only in an official capacity; the Act does not give that office-holder a private right of ownership.

The Authority is the chief custodian of government specimens; other government officers, agencies or departments holding specimens must notify the Authority within two days of acquisition, may state whether they wish to keep specimens and for what purpose and period, must surrender specimens after the stated purpose/period expires; the Executive Director must submit an annual report to the Board; and the Board may prescribe management and disposal measures.

Establishes the Wildlife Compensation Verification Committee and requires it to verify claims submitted under section 84; lists its members.

The Authority must establish and maintain a Wildlife Compensation Scheme funded by specified sources to finance compensation claims for harm caused by wild animals outside protected areas.

The Wildlife Compensation Verification Committee must verify claims and submit them to the Board; the Board must review and, if approved, award compensation at market rates for persons who suffer bodily injury, death, or property damage.

The Authority cannot be sued for recovery of damage caused by an animal in a wildlife conservation area; the Executive Director or other officer is not personally liable for damage when acting (or not acting) in good faith and without negligence in exercising powers under the Act.

The Minister may, by statutory instrument and after consulting the Board, make regulations to carry the Act into effect, including a detailed non-exhaustive list of subjects that regulations may cover (returns, forms, fees, revenue sharing, management of areas/species/rights/concessions, compensation procedures, community committees, and related matters).

The Minister may amend Schedule 1 (with Cabinet approval) and may amend Schedules 2 and 3 by statutory instrument.