Arua District Local Government has tasked Government to reinstate the White Rhinos in West Nile as it prepares to host the National Wildlife Day celebrations. The UN World Wildlife Day is celebrated every year on March 3.
This year’s national celebrations will be held in Arua under the theme: Harmonious living between wildlife and people. The celebrations are being organized in partnership with Help Food Security and Livelihood Africa-HF-Africa, an NGO that works to ensure sustainable use of and conservation of the environment for a harmonious existence.
Arua district Tourism officer Rebecca Agani says that the district will use the occasion to demand from government the reinstatement of the White Rhinos in Ajai Game Reserve where they lived in the late 1970’s before they were wiped out during the 1979 war. She says several activities have been lines up to make this years celebrations memorable.
Godi Swaleh Safi, the Executive Director of HF-Africa says the celebrations should be used to demystify perceptions and send a signal to neighboring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo that wild animals do not cure diseases like AIDS and should therefore not be killed.
Uganda currently has 10 National Parks, 12 Wildlife Reserves, 10 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 5 Wildlife Community Areas which all contribute over USD 4 million to Uganda’s national treasury according to local statistics.
– URN
