ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a cultural values approach to conservation developed and implemented in Uganda. It shows that the potential of cultural connections to nature to strengthen conservation practice is great, creating opportunities to build relations with communities based on their values, and providing ways to analyse understand and address conflicts that exist between protected areas and communities. The chapter describes a number of other interventions carried out in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority and assess their strengths and weaknesses. It focuses largely on uganda wildlife authority-controlled areas. Despite the trend in Uganda, as elsewhere, to marginalise traditional culture and beliefs, especially in the context of growing religiosity centred on Christianity and Islam, there was broad recognition of the difference between a cultural values approach and integrated conservation and development approaches to which they had been exposed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the experiences for the wider adoption of cultural values approaches to conservation.
