Uganda
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park protects a floristically diverse tropical rainforest, inhabited by almost half the world's population of mountain gorillas.
The property is a remnant of a much larger forest, and lies at the intersection of three ecological zones. Due to its altitudinal range of 1,160-2,706m it has exceptional diversity and richness in species, notably regarding trees, butterflies and birds.
Community Perspective: Bwindi is the most accessible place to see mountain gorillas, and several access points provide 1-hr visits to habituated groups of gorillas. It can be a tough hike to reach them.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (ID: 682)
- Country
- Uganda
- Status
-
Inscribed 1994
Site history
History of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- 1994: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- WHS Type
- Natural
- Criteria
- vii
- x
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- ugandawildlife.org — Uganda Wildlife Authority
News Article
- June 12, 2020 bbc.com — Rafiki, Uganda's rare silverback mountain gorilla, killed by hunters
- Dec. 20, 2016 monitor.co.ug — Ndahura, Bwindi's dominant male gorilla dies falling off a tree branch
- Feb. 1, 2010 gadling.com — Uganda has started work on habituating another mountain gorilla group to humans in order to expand safaris in its famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- April 22, 2007 sciencedaily.com — The most recent census of mountain gorillas in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park--one of only two places in the world where the rare gorillas exist--has found that the population has increased by 6 percent since the last census in 2002.
Community Information
- Community Category
- Wildlife habitat: Fauna
- Wildlife habitat: Flora
Travel Information
High entrance fees
800 US dollar (1 day gorilla permit, 2025)
Recent Connections
-
Perfect Inscriptions
1994 -
Honey Collection
"Non-timber forest produce, notably hon… -
Centres of Plant Diversity
Af25 Bwindi (Impenetrable) Forest - "Th…
Connections of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- Geography
-
-
On National Border
On DRC border
-
- Ecology
-
-
Chimpanzee habitat
-
Over 300 bird species
"At least 350 species of birds have been recorded" (IUCN Outlook 2020) -
Refugium
"believed to be a Pleistocene refugium, the property is a biodiversity hotspot with possibly the greatest number of tree species for its altitude in East Africa. It is also host to a rich fauna including a number of endemic butterflies and one of the richest mammalian assemblages in Africa". (UNESCO)See whc.unesco.org
-
Virgin Forests
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a large primeval forest (wiki) -
Rainforests
-
Elephants
African elephant -
Gorilla habitat
Mountain gorilla (Bwindi gorilla); has habituated groups -
Strepsirrhini
dusky bushbaby, dwarf bushbaby -
Otters
Congo clawless otter (UNEP-WCMC)
-
- Damaged
-
-
Terrorist Attacks
Rwandan rebels slaughtered eight foreign tourists after they were abducted from Bwindi NP (March 1999)
-
- World Heritage Process
-
-
Perfect Inscriptions
1994 -
First inscriptions
Uganda: two inscriptions in 1994, with Bwindi Impenetrable National Park as the lowest number
-
- Human Activity
-
-
Indigenous groups expelled
Batwa. “The establishment in 1991 of Bwindi and Mgahinga forests as national parks resulted in the permanent eviction and exclusion of the Batwa from their homeland” (WHS-IPR) -
Pygmy Peoples
"The area was declared an animal sanctuary in 1964, when Batwa were pressurized to leave, and gazetted as national park in 1991, when Batwa communities were finally forcibly expelled along with other neighbouring communities involved in agriculture and other forms of forest exploitation" -
Honey Collection
"Non-timber forest produce, notably honey, medicinal plants and basketry materials, make an important contribution to local livelihoods and these products may now be taken from designated zones under the terms of community-use" (IUCN Outlook 2020)See www.bwindi.org
-
- WHS on Other Lists
-
-
World Heritage Forest Programme
-
Centres of Plant Diversity
Af25 Bwindi (Impenetrable) Forest - "The property has the highest diversity of tree species (over 200 species including 10 endemics) and ferns (some 104 species) in East Africa" -
WWF Global 200
Terrestrial, Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests: (7) Albertine Rift Montane ForestsSee web.archive.org
-
Biodiversity hotspot
Eastern Afromontane
-
- Timeline
-
-
Late Pleistocene
"most of nowadays forests are not further than 12,000 years old, Bwindi's vegetation has been weaving itself into tangles over 25,000 years.... Bwindi acted as Pleistocene refugium and it was able to protect the jungle during the ice age when Africa didn't have such dense vegetation cover. It served as a water tower for most of the wildlife species that relied on the forest unlike other areas that didn't have any forest or vegetation cover"
-
- Visiting conditions
-
-
High entrance fees
800 US dollar (1 day gorilla permit, 2025) -
Unusual Entry Requirements or Restrictions
Visitors to the Gorillas have to state that they are not suffering from a cold or stomach upset. If they admit before they leave they get their entrance money back but, if discovered along the way, they have to return to base without recompense! -
Foreigner prices
Park fees: 20,000 UGX for East African Community passport holders, 30 USD for foreign residents and 40 USD for other foreigners. Gorilla permit: 250,000 UGX - 500 USD - 600 USD
-
- Literature & Film
-
-
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Black Panther, aerial footage of park used to portray fictional nation of Wakanda
-
News
- bbc.com 06/12/2020
- Rafiki, Uganda's rare silverback m…
- monitor.co.ug 12/20/2016
- Ndahura, Bwindi's dominant male go…
- gadling.com 02/01/2010
- Uganda has started work on habitua…
Recent Visitors
View all (66)
Visitors of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- alicemears
- A. Mehmet Haksever
- Andrea Szabo
- Aspasia
- Atila Ege
- Bill Maurmann
- Bram de Bruin
- Brett Baumann
- brornt
- Corinne Vail
- cwthong
- David Marton
- Dennis Nicklaus
- Dolemite92
- DouglasR
- Drk9Stormy
- Dutchbirder
- Elf21
- Els Slots
- Emili Xaus
- Geert Luiken
- George Evangelou
- Gernot
- H Beswick
- Iain Jackson
- Janos
- Javier
- jballard650
- Jeffrey Chai
- KarenBMoore
- Loic Pedras
- lou1983
- Maja
- marcel staron
- Maria
- Mariam
- Marlies van Wolfswinkel
- Martin
- Michael Ayers
- Michael Novins
- Mihai Dascalu
- Morodhi
- NataliaS
- Nihal Ege
- PabloNorte
- Patrik_globe
- Peltzi
- Philipp Leu
- Pieter Dijkshoorn
- Potsdamer
- Priyaranjan Mohapatra
- Roel Sterken
- Roman Bruehwiler
- SHIHE HUANG
- Solivagant
- Squiffy
- stephhollett
- Thomas Buechler
- Thomas van der Walt
- TimAllen
- Timothy C Easton
- Vanessa Buechler
- Waxwing
- Wo_ko
- Yongcheng Liu
- Zoë Sheng
Reserved for members.
Community Reviews
Show previews
First published: 02/03/20.
First published: 07/09/19.
First published: 06/01/16.
First published: 01/05/05.