Women in birding in Uganda
The Uganda Women Birders’ Club was started in May 2013 with a major aim of increasing the number of ladies participating in birdwatching which has for long been male dominated. Globally, tourism is considered the biggest foreign exchange earner and thus would provide an opportunity for women to earn livelihoods for their families. The club aims at mentoring women into bird watching and nature guiding as a profession, providing a platform for women to interact with like minded people in avian conservation as well as empowering the younger generation with skills in bird identification and conservation. The club started with a membership of about 10 ladies and has since grown to over 80 members. The clubs’ vision is to see more ladies working as nature guides. Judith and Harriet discuss the club, its goals, and its success at developing avitourism in the country.
Organizer
Abia is a female Nature guide in Uganda specializing in birds and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science, Technology and Management. She is passionate about a healthy environment as well as changing lives for the better. Abia is the current secretary to the Uganda Women Birders and has been bird watching since childhoo
d but took it as a career in May 2014 during her internship in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, one of the best birding destinations in Africa. This was a life changer for her and all her decisions followed the avian path ever since. She volunteered as a guide in Uganda Wildlife Authority attached to Queen Elizabeth National park(2016) as a means to advance her skills in birding, started volunteering in Nature Uganda (Birdlife partner in Uganda) specifically in Bird Population Monitoring and Waterfowl Counts from 2016 to date and did her first birding safari in December 2016. Abia works with Bird Uganda safaris as a bird guide and formerly an operations officer for the Uganda Women Birders’ project. She currently runs as a freelance guide and a proprietor of the young Egret Gorilla Safaris, a company she co-found to offer opportunity to other girls in the industry. Abia is a member of Nature Uganda, Uganda Safari Guides Association and Uganda Bird Guides Club. She is an outgoing person, always happy and has a very developed sense of humor.
Judith is a well-trained bird guide and the chairperson of the Uganda Women Birders, an initiative to increase the number of women in nature guiding, specifically bird watching – a male-dominated profession. She has been bird watching since her early ages and started leading bird watching tours in 2017 and is among the few women leading these tours in Uganda. She holds an Msc in Environment and Natural Resources from Makerere University. Judith is passionate about research, conservation and the general environment, an area she has worked in since 2016. She developed the passion in research as she worked as a Bird Population Monitoring Coordinator (2016-2018) with Nature Uganda, a Birdlife partner in Uganda. She is an Alumnus of the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) and the EDGE Fellowship 2017-2019 (Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered Species) specifically doing research on the Shoebill. Away from bird watching she is a hockey player and loves family.