Socioeconomic Effects of Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) on Protected Area-Communities Bordering Bugungu Wildlife Reserve, Buliisa District, Uganda

The paper presents findings on how supporting projects through Tourism Revenue Sharing supports the socioeconomic well-being of communities bordering Bugungu Wildlife Reserve in Buliisa District, western Uganda. Through simple random sampling, some 358 respondents from parishes of Nyamitete, Kakoora, Nyamasoga, Bubwe, Biiso, Kampala A, and Walukuba participated in a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was supplemented by photography to enlist projects supported through the Tourism Revenue Sharing Schemes of the Uganda Wildlife Authority. A total of 23 projects were supported through tourism revenue sharing in the surveyed parishes. Some of the projects were the construction of classroom blocks, distribution of furniture in schools, livelihood support projects, and fencing of schools to stop the intrusion and wild animal attacks. There was an improvement in household income through TRS directly addressing household needs by 79.5% (r = 0.735, P<0.05) and indirectly improving income by 80.5% (r = 0.809, P<0.05) and a significant relationship between the construction of schools and socio-economic wellbeing of communities bordering Bugungu WR (β =.154, P<0.05) was determined. Rarely did TRS support health centers through TRSF and this negatively affected expenditure in terms of income spent by communities bordering Bugungu Wildlife Reserve seeking healthcare services (β = -.088, P<0.05). Communities living around Bugungu Wildlife Reserve should organize themselves into groups to effectively benefit from TRS projects and programs supported by UWA. Uganda Wildlife Authority should support Health Sector-related projects under Tourism revenue sharing around Bugungu Wildlife Reserve.