Nature Conservation is Not Choice, but Necessity

All in nature must be allowed to continue to be as it should be for the safety of all in our world.

For about 8000 years, nature conservation was rendered in the cattle corridor of Uganda (and East Africa in general, 9 countries) by a model that was in symbiotic relationship to the ecosystems, centered on the keeping of the long-horned Ankole cow. That meant a better bio-network that sustained all in the ecosystems for the 8 millenniums. We are reviving the indigenous knowledge (IK) of the ba-Hima, renowned breeders and keepers of the Ankole and marrying it with proven scientific methods and the wisdom traditions of some ancient cultures, such as the Vedic, in a model that is intended for the survival and safety of the ecosystems in the cattle corridor.

Humanity, by manipulating physical laws, has proven itself capable of asserting control over nature to a certain extent, most of the time with adverse effects to itself. For example, the adverse environmental effects that are responsible for the so-called global warming that is threatening all life on the planet, have happened especially within the last 200 years as a result of the industrial revolution that started in Europe. Until bad changes are happening to our environment, industrialization is appealed to by any human societies seeking economic transformation. Unfortunately, all is done in ignorance of the dangers it has. To reverse the bad effects we have meted out to all nature, modern man should respond to the past for methods that worked in preserving our collective environment before the modern era.

In the face of adverse changes facing the nature and various ecosystems in the cattle corridor in East Africa, which threaten life as evident in the threat of extinction of the long-horned Ankole cow, the Rigumaho is reviving the role of the ancient Bahima-cow culture in nature conservation by providing a model that is flexible and secure. The result is a functional bio-network which will continue to sustain all that depends on natural systems in the cattle corridor. We are achieving this by establishing Conservancies on empty parcels of land, and by promoting a basic lifestyle of the people involved in the model, to achieve a greener safe haven for all.

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Nasasira Livingstone was the Co-founder of the Iziina Rirungi Rigumaho Association (RIGUMAHO),with his brothers Enoch, Israel, Paul and moses; and he was the Author of the Cow Protection Conservancy Uganda (Project), Enoch is the predecessor and current Executive Director of the organization. A dynamic Community Based Organisation (CBO) operating in Kiruhura district, establishing conservancies on empty patches of land to serve as demonstration centers for holistic nature conservation. Details of what the Rigumaho does can be found on the website www.rigumaho.org.