Conservation Research in Uganda’s Forests: A Review of Site History, Research, & Use of Research in Uganda’s Forest Parks & Budongo Forest Reserve

In recent decades, there has been increased interest in understanding ecosystems in order to be able to manage and conserve them. Yet examples of how research directly supports conservation are rare. Protected area managers and policy makers need scientific information from protected areas for policy development and to effectively devise, revise, and implement management strategies. Researchers seek a clear understanding of what types of research can directly support conservation efforts to guide them in the design of such projects. A variety of perspectives of what constitutes ‘conservation’ or ‘applied’ wildlife research may exist, and indeed conservation priorities do differ between sites so that ultimately, what we describe here is from one perspective and designing projects that directly support site conservation depends on a prior understanding of issues at the site. This book is intended to encourage thinking about what constitutes conservation research to be able to better develop projects that directly support conservation. The aim of this book is to support research that directly benefits conservation by reviewing applied research and providing examples in which it has been used for conservation purposes.