Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is found in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the western arm of the Great East African Rift Valley. That’s about 530km from Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is famous for gorilla trekking safaris, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, occupying over 331 sqkm. The park is also famous for its rare species which include mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei).
A baby gorilla holding on to a tree branch in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi is a diverse natural forest area with a continuum of habitats ranging from 1,190 to 2,560 meters above sea level. The park lies within the Kigezi highlands that were formed through up-warping of the western rift valley (Albertine Rift). The landscape of this park is extremely rugged, with steep ridges and narrow valleys. It is therefore a generally inclined park from the high deeply dissected south and southeast to the lower north and northwest. The only leveled areas within the park are the Mubwindi swamp (approximately 1 sqkm) and Ngoto swamp (approximately 0.1 sqkm).
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Bwindi Impenetrable National Park also protects an estimated 400 mountain gorillas, that’s roughly half of the world’s population. This is because of the several habituated gorilla families such as the Oruzogo gorilla family, which can be tracked.
This biologically diverse region also provides shelter to a further 120 mammals, including several primate species such as baboons and chimpanzees, as well as elephants and antelopes. There are around 350 species of birds hosted in this forest, including 23 Albertine Rift endemics.
Bwindi was managed as a productive forest reserve since 1932. In 1991, the forest gained a national park status with the official name of ‘Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’. It is managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) as part of the Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust/Area (BMCT/A).
BMCA comprises Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park – the Ugandan portion of the Virunga Mountains. BMCA is also part of the Greater Virunga Landscape, which includes southwestern Uganda, the eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC), and northwestern Rwanda. In Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park is the primary home to the Mountain Gorillas.