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The Bulindi Chimpanzee Project shines on Planet Earth III_Female bulindi chimpanzee feeding her baby on a tree_featured

Bulindi Agroforestry and Chimpanzee Conservation Project

The Bulindi Agroforestry and Chimpanzee Conservation Project is an afforestation project in western Uganda that aims to protect the remaining habitat of the Bulindi chimpanzees and support local village households.

Project category

Carbon project

Project type

ARR

Project stage

Project implementation

Country

Uganda

Lifetime

41 years

Project ID

Gold Standard: 12226

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14.36M

trees and bushes
being planted

4.8M

tonnes of CO₂
to be captured

10,262

hectares
being reforested

14,000

farmers to be
positively impacted

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Project impact

The Bulindi Agroforestry and Chimpanzee Conservation Project restores forest habitat in western Uganda's Hoima and Masindi districts, where over 300 wild chimpanzees survive in shrinking forest fragments amid agricultural land. Run alongside the Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project, led by Dr Matt McLennan, it builds a symbiotic relationship between communities, chimpanzees, and the environment. Through forest enrichment planting and afforestation, the project restores natural food sources for chimpanzees and helps ease human-chimpanzee conflict. Village boreholes, education initiatives, and small-scale community projects bring clean water and social benefits to local households alongside these conservation gains.

Explore the story of the Bulindi chimpanzees in Uganda, narrated by the famous Sir David Attenborough. In this episode, Director Abigail Lees, a visionary at the BBC Natural History Unit, intricately captures the daily struggles of these chimps living in close proximity to humans, setting the stage for a transformative initiative—the Bulindi Agroforestry and Chimpanzee Conservation Project.

See our project feature on Planet Earth III

Community benefits

The project's works with local communities and households to find sustainable solutions that will benefit both the chimpanzees and the people, helping local communities conserve the forest. The project supports local households in key areas by providing training, investing in their children's education via a school sponsorship scheme, and supporting small household projects, including house construction and coffee cash-cropping. Additionally, the project constructs village boreholes, providing villagers with access to clean water. The project also provides households with energy-efficient stoves and seedlings for woodlots, which reduce pressure on remaining natural forests.

Bulindi Chimpanzee Habitat Restoration_bullet point 1-min

Environmental benefits

The project positively impacts the environment and chimpanzees through forest enrichment planting that replenishes the forest with natural foods for chimpanzees to reduce human-chimpanzee conflict (by reducing crop ‘raiding’ by the great apes). This also increases the natural habitat of the chimpanzees and other local wildlife, contributing to creating a healthy ecosystem.

Bulindi Chimpanzee Habitat Restoration_bullet point 2-min

Maesopsis eminii

Prunus africana

Coffea canephora (coffee)

Cordia africana

Albizia coriaria

Markhamia lutea

Khaya senegalensis

Irvingia gabonensis (mango)

Macadamia integrifoli (macadamia)

Uganda

About the region

The project is located in the Hoima and Masindi districts of western Uganda. This area has substantial conservation value as it’s a corridor linking major chimpanzee populations in two large protected areas, the Budongo and Bugoma forests, each home to more than 500 chimpanzees. However, the small corridor forests are owned by local village households and have no formal protection. Since the 1990s, these forests have been extensively logged and converted to farmland. Habitat loss has led to escalating levels of conflict between villagers and resident chimpanzees, threatening the survival of this vital population of great apes.