Suitability analysis of ecotourism sector in Buggala Island, Kalangala District

Abstract

Ecotourism is an important component in the development of rural economies. It contributes to environmental conservation, social and economic development concepts. However, within Uganda, a dearth of information of ecotourism sites and ecotourism development in ungazetted areas pertains. This study sought to identify the most suitable ecotourism sites in Buggala Island. Specifically, the study: i) assessed the ecotourism potential of Buggala Island; ii) determined ecotourism hotspots in Buggala Island; and iii) assessed the challenges facing ecotourism sector in Buggala Island. The study used a mixed methods approach involving the use of secondary data including: satellite imagery from Landsat 8, climate, boundary layers, road layers, bird speciation data and primary data such as Historical/cultural locations, Natural attraction locations. In addition, cross-sectional survey among 58 randomly selected households was undertaken. Data was analyzed using Weighted Sum method and Union analysis in a multi-criteria decision making using Geographical Information System (GIS) to assess the ecotourism potential. Weighted overlay analysis in Model builder tool was used to determine ecotourism hotspots and Weighted Relative Index (WRI) method was used to assess the challenges facing ecotourism in Buggala Island. As per this study; results have shown that, 77.54% of Buggala Island has high ecotourism potential. A total of 50.29% of Buggala Island has high ecotourism suitability hence these areas have high possibility to grow into ecotourism centres. The remaining areas show low suitability for ecotourism development due to lack of major attractions and reduced accessibility. However, the results have revealed that forest destruction (22.22%) as the major problem affecting ecotourism development in Buggala Island. It can therefore be concluded that the development of ecotourism sector in Buggala will spur high economic gains. It’s up to the ecotourism institutions and developers to exploit this resource. However, this should be guided by a detailed understanding of sustainable ecotourism development principles through identifying areas to conserve and those to develop. Contrally, the ongoing deforestation requires immediate mitigation strategies before it causes complete loss of ecotourism goods and services