The Charity

About Us

The Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) is the first and only UK based charity to focus on Ugandan conservation after years of extreme civil conflict and poaching. We aim to conserve and preserve the natural environment and the fauna and flora in Eastern Africa, particularly in Uganda.

The operation of the Uganda Conservation Foundation (Registered Charity No: 1087295) is governed by the deed made on the 8th May, 2001. The operation of the Uganda Conservation (U) Ltd is governed by the incorporation made on the 3rd September, 2003.

Areas of Interest

Working as a support to various government and private bodies wherever possible, our main areas of interest are as follows:

• To encourage, stimulate and support efforts in the betterment, recovery and future security of Uganda’s wildlife, natural resources and environment.
• To unite the needs of the Uganda people with that of conservation and development objectives for the benefit of both.
• To collaborate, co-operate and support other agencies and organizations with mutual objectives, although focus on areas receiving little or no NGO emphasis.
• To help provide practical support to conserve and revitalize areas of natural habitat and improve ‘urban’ areas for benefit of wildlife and communities.
• To be involved in long term, proactive, realistic and practical projects, especially those that provide the opportunity of advancing Uganda’s capability and prospects through employment, education, activities and research.

Applications

We are currently directing resources to projects in Uganda. As the foundation develops, we will be expanding our project base. The Foundation only operates within the broad field of conservation and as such, this does not include areas of medicine and health. Also excluded are projects concerning museums, churches, cathedrals and other historic sites, buildings and monuments.

To apply for funds, please download the application form.

Funding and Support

The charity is entirely dependant on private donations and the co-operation of our sponsors. All funds are managed by the Trustees and Board of Directors. For more information on how to donate click here.

Our Founder

Michael Keigwin, BSc(Hons), designed and put into action the project known as Elephants, Crops and People ( ECP), Uganda in 1998 and later founded the Uganda Conservation Founation.

Michael was born and educated in England, but members of his family had had links with East Africa dating back to the 1890s. This had aroused in him a deep interest in that part of the world. During the 1960s his uncle, Richard Onslow was a Park Warden of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. When Michael was 15 he went to Kenya with a team from Pangbourne College in Berkshire, to build 40 water catchment tanks, a subsurface dam and additional buildings for maternity facilities in an encroachment village. It was during this period that he learned about the needs and vulnerabilities of isolated communities and the importance of community participation and self-help as well as the impact that such encroachment villages have on the environment.

Mike Keigwin (left) with Marcel Onen

He went to University in Newcastle and earned his degree in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Uncertain what he actually wanted to do with his life, he left England and joined a project headed out to Uganda to do a biodiversity study. However, due to internal conflicts in the area, the study was curtailed though Michael stayed in Uganda. He was approached and asked if he would take on a study of the elephants in the Semiliki area in Western Uganda. After a feasibility study, it became abundantly evident that this was not a viable project and that the last thing the remaining elephants in that region needed, was to be followed by a researcher. They needed security and to be left alone. On reporting this, he was then asked if he would look into elephant research in alternative areas.

This was when he became acutely aware of the lack of support reaching the general conservation bodies in Uganda and their paramount need for such support. He realized that help was required to try and make it possible for Uganda’s wildlife to recover after decades of poaching and abuse following the Amin and Obote regimes. After extensive feasibility studies carried out in conjunction with the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the local communities, Queen Elizabeth National Park was selected with the specific focus on the south where there was little, if any, up to date knowledge of the status and threats to the elephants. So, the Elephants, Crops and People project was born and still continues today to work on these issues of Southern QE.

Soon after ECP Project was up and running, Michael realised that a more permanent and transparent body was required in order to provide a secure conduit for international, as well as national funds, to conservation and wildlife management bodies in Uganda. After considerable deliberations with potential Trustees and the Charities Commission in the UK, he founded the Uganda Conservation Foundation. With no other similar facility available in Uganda, he deemed this a vital component to the future of much conservation work and the success of any future projects in that part of the area. The situation currently is that due to the security, transparency and the policy of inclusion of all interested parties, UCF is fast becoming an organisation with which the private sector and donors wish to be associated.