With support from the International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties (ICCROM), the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda has embarked on a project whose goal is to contribute to efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change on the Ekisalhalha kya Kororo sacred cultural site using the traditional knowledge of the Bakonzi.
The CCFU team is in Kasese to introduce the project and identify key informants for the research phase of the project which focuses on profiling indigenous knowledge, oral traditions, rituals and other cultural practices that can be used to mitigate the effects of climate change on Ekisalhalha Kya Kororo sacred cultural site.
Located at the confluence of the Kabiri and Kithangetse rivers in Kyondo sub-county (Kasese district), in the Muyina Chiefdom of the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu, Kororo’s waterfalls are named after an obstinate man who once lived in the area. The site is significant for conflict resolution, the dispensation of blessings and for healing.
Ekisalhalha Kya Kororo is affected by climate change where floods washed away one of the shrines, and the spirit-evoking music instruments it contained.
The project will undertake activities to strengthen the mitigation efforts for the effects of climate change on the site and these will include; dissemination of the indigenous knowledge and other cultural resources of the communities to contribute to reducing the effects of climate change; enhancing the capacity of the site managers to appreciate and mainstream indigenous knowledge in the management of the site; supporting the planting of indigenous trees along the site; supporting young people in select school cultural heritage clubs to visit the site and participate in the tree-planting activities, and supporting the establishment of a climate change village committee.
CCFU’s hope is that that the use of indigenous knowledge of indigenous people will result in collaborative and sustainable management strategies for the cultural heritage site.
CCFU’s efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change on heritage resources in Uganda
This work is premised on our previous interventions to mitigate the impact of a warming climate on cultural heritage sites in Uganda, particularly in the Rwenzori and Alur regions.
The effects of climate change are being felt throughout Uganda, whether on agricultural production, forestry, the water levels in rivers and lakes, or the receding glaciers in the Rwenzori mountains. Such change also affects cultural sites and their associated values and traditions. Several sites of cultural importance, all associated with significant aspects of the cosmology and values of the concerned communities, have already disappeared. Cultural sites especially in the Rwenzori mountains are particularly at risk.
These sites represent different elements of the tangible and intangible heritage of the Bakonzo who live on the slopes of the mountains, and the Alur people in WestNile which together, help to define their identity. It is against this background that CCFU in partnership with the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) embarked in late 2020 on a project aimed at contributing to the preservation of the important elements of the cultural heritage of communities in the Rwenzori and Alur regions.
With support from the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, heritage sites under risk from climate change were identified, documented (Rwenzori and Alur booklets), part-protected and signposted. The project not only illustrates the relationship between climate change and natural and cultural heritage, but also shows why measures to address climate change require the involvement of diverse stakeholders, especially of cultural leaders and other holders of indigenous knowledge
https://crossculturalfoundation.or.ug/ccfu/2022/11/18/ccfu-commences-activities-to-address-the-impact-of-climate-change-on-ekisalhalha-kya-kororo-heritage-site-in-kasese/