Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) in Uganda

Uganda’s Biodiversity  

Uganda is a vitally important country for biodiversity in Africa, situated at a crossroads where east meets west and north meets south.  It has a rich and varied flora, with over 4,800 taxa described, over 180 of which are entirely or largely confined to Uganda (endemic and near-endemic taxa). 

Habitats range from the arid environments of the northeast and fire-prone savannas of the northwest to the lush montane rainforests of the southwest. Significant areas of Uganda’s Albertine Rift fall within the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot. 

This abundance of biodiversity provides a wealth of important resources and ecosystem services to the rural and urban communities, from supplying foods, building materials and medicines, to regulatory services including the protection of Uganda’s water resources and fertile soils. The ecological service of climate moderation is vital for supporting Uganda’s agro-economy. 

Conservation Challenges 

The Ugandan economy relies heavily on small-scale agriculture, and, increasingly, resource-extractive activities such as oil exploration and logging. There is, therefore, great difficulty in balancing the drive for economic development with efforts to halt biodiversity decline. 

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in Uganda contains a significant number of endemic and socio-economically important plants believed to be threatened with extinction. This includes the Critically Endangered Diospyros katendei, an ebony species whose global range is restricted to single forest reserve in Uganda, and Encephalartos whitelockii, a cycad known only from a short stretch of the Mpanga River Gorge.In total, nearly 200 Ugandan plant species, subspecies and varieties are considered to be globally threatened with extinction, many of which were assessed under this project.

Research as part of the TIPAs project has further revealed that 13 of Uganda’s 21 ecosystem types are nationally threatened, and that this is exacerbating species extinction risk. While Uganda has an extensive network of National Parks, Wildlife Reserves, and Forest Reserves, a lack of reliable data on plants means that current legislation fails to protect many of the country’s threatened plant species and habitats. 

Objectives 

The main objectives of this initiative were to 1) identify and document critical sites for plant diversity in Uganda, using the Important Plant Areas (IPA) criteria approach (Darbyshire et al. 2017), thereby supporting the conservation of endemic, threatened and socio-economically important plants of Uganda; and  2) to engage with stakeholders throughout Uganda to promote the protection of IPAs, and important plants and habitats, to ensure long-term preservation of Uganda’s plant diversity through a collaborative approach. 

To this end, this project was co-led by researchers at Kew and Makerere University, home of the largest herbarium in Uganda. The expertise and links with stakeholders held by Makerere have been invaluable to the success of the project (see ‘Partners and Collaborators’). A national Uganda TIPAs Working Group was also established early in the project, bringing in a wide range of expertise and knowledge from biologists, conservation practitioners and policy implementers. 

TIPAs in Uganda  

The identification of 42 IPAs in Uganda provides a pivotal opportunity to integrate plant taxa into conservation planning. It contributes to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority’s mission to “conserve, economically develop and sustainably manage wildlife and protected areas of Uganda in partnership with the neighbouring communities and stakeholders for the benefit of the people of Uganda and the global community. 

Encompassing only 8% of Uganda’s total land area, the IPA network contains populations of 85% of the assessed threatened plants of the country. Endemic and range-restricted plant taxa have been identified in at least 38 sites, with just over 100 of these taxa only occurring in a single IPA. What’s more, all 13 of Uganda’s threatened habitats are represented in the IPA network with a coverage of 26% of their combined total area. This includes the globally threatened Podocarpus-Baikiaea Swamp Forest habitat, contained within the Sango Bay IPA. 

IPAs are closely aligned to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, for which Uganda is a signatory, and in particular, its targets for conserving areas of importance for biodiversity. The assessment of IPAs in Uganda therefore provides a systematic and evidence-based means of identifying priority areas for site-based conservation of its flora.

This methodology, combined with input from stakeholders from workshops held throughout the identification process helped to guide research and decision making. In addition, each IPA has been expertly reviewed by a local stakeholder familiar with the site. In many instances, where disputed historical records needed verification, fieldwork efforts were undertaken to assess the existence and distribution of plant populations, as well as the extent of threats. 

What’s Next? 

Knowing where important plant populations and habitats exist is merely the first step in ensuring their survival. The IPAs in Uganda each face unique site-level threats, with various levels of protection. Furthermore, delineation of IPAs is an iterative process: new sites can be added, and existing sites may be updated as new information becomes available.  

The IPA network was successfully launched at a 2-day workshop in Kampala in March 2025, attended by the Uganda TIPAs Working Group and by a range of key stakeholders from the government, conservation and education sectors. Together, this group identified several areas that may be addressed in future phases of the IPA network of Uganda including (but not limited to): 

• Inclusion of IPAs within Uganda’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, as well as in management plans for National Parks and Forest Reserves. 
• Dissemination of IPA information through education-based initiatives and identifying local ‘champions’ for IPAs at the site-level. 
• Identifying where important plant areas may exist in the central area of Uganda, where IPAs are presently scarce. 
• Development of routine survey efforts to monitor changes to trigger species populations within sites. 

Project Leader

James Kalema – Makerere University 
Iain Darbyshire

Kew Team

Sophie Richards
Haley Gladitsch
Henry Miller
Jenny Williams

Makerere University Team

Samuel Ojelel
Kennedy Mukasa 

• 42 IPAs identified and documented, with site information and data downloads available via the TIPAs Explorer portal 
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for Ugandan plant species expanded and updated and a national IUCN Red List of Threatened Ecosystems published 
• Increased capacity in botanical research, field techniques and conservation assessment for the next generation of Ugandan scientists and conservationists 
• Publication of a checklist of the useful plant taxa of Uganda, as well as a forthcoming publication of the endemic plant taxa of Uganda. 
• 5 stakeholder workshops held, including a final two-day stakeholder workshop at Makerere University. 
• Identification and publication of new, and potentially useful, species to science such as Afrothismia ugandensis.   

• Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
• Bird Life International, Uganda 
• EcoTrust Uganda 
• National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda 
• National Environment Management Authority, Uganda 
• National Forestry Authority, Uganda 
• National Forestry Resources Research Institute, Uganda 
• NatureUganda 
• Tooro Botanical Garden 
• Tree Adoption Uganda 
• Uganda National Council for Science and Technology 
• Uganda Wildlife Authority 
• Uganda Wildlife Society 
• Wildlife Conservation Society, Uganda 
• Numerous independent botanists, researchers, local government officials 

• Players of People’s Postcode Lottery

• The Woodspring Trust
• Bentham Moxon Trust 
• P.F. Fleming Trust