PEOPLE living around Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks have complained that they are not benefiting from the tourism industry yet it has become Uganda’s number one foreign exchange earner.

Elias Habyarimana, the chairman of the Batwa minority, said: “We get peanuts yet we were the inhabitants of these forests before they were gazetted.” Silver Baguma, the Kabale district chairman, said the locals were not prepared to compete for opportunities in the tourism industry.

He said the gorilla levy fund given back to the community is little compared to the sacrifices they have made to protect the national parks.