A brief history of the Early and Middle Miocene fossil sites at Bukwa, Uganda : discovery, research, protection.
Résumé
The Bukwa fossil sites of Early and Middle Miocene age, were discovered in 1965, just three years after
Uganda’s Independence from Colonial Rule, and since then they have been studied sporadically by
geologists and palaeontologists. From 1970 until 1985 security concerns in the country hampered
progress. The Bukwa sites comprise an important part of Uganda’s cultural and scientific heritage, and
they warrant proper protection. Despite being protected by the 1967 Monuments Act of Uganda, the
sites have suffered encroachment, notably from agricultural activity. In the late 1990’s and the first
decade of this century, liaison between the Uganda Museum, the Uganda Palaeontology Expedition
(UPE) and Local Council officials of Bukwo District, resulted in a rise in awareness of the scientific
importance of the sites, not only among government officials and civil servants, but also among local
farmers. After 2002, when a team from America briefly visited the sites, there was a long period during
which nothing happened, a state of affairs which was interpreted by local inhabitants to mean that the
sites had been abandoned by the scientifiv community, which gave the false impression that the sites
were of little scientific value. In 2012, in order to rectify this misinformation, after three years of central
and local government interaction, a panel was erected at the site by the Uganda Museum, pointing out
that the site is protected by law.
Local leaders and citizens of Bukwa are proud of the fact that an important scientific site exists in their
area, one deposit of which represents a geological period not represented elsewhere in Uganda, and there
are plans to gazette the sites and to create an Interpretation Centre for educational, scientific and tourism
purposes. There remains, however, the possibility of further encroachment because, in the district, there
is pressure on the land from the agricultural fraternity. The aim of this paper is to provide a succinct
history of scientific activity and competing land use interests at the Bukwa fossil sites, and to discuss
issues of protection and local development so that the fossil-bearing deposits can be preserved in order
that future generations of Ugandan and international scientists can study the geology and palaeontology
of the deposits, which are of world-class interest. Much remains to be investigated at the Bukwa fossil
sites and several enigmas await elucidation, including the stratigraphy and ages of the localities.