Through the eyes of the Batwa Indigenous People

Deep in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is the ancestral home of the Batwa, a Ugandan Indigenous People.

They took our team into Bwindi Forest, showing them the place that was once their shelter, hunting ground and a treasure trove of food and medicines.  

Bwindi Forest is thick, lush and beautiful. It’s home not only to the Batwa, but to rare plant and animal species, including mountain gorillas.

For centuries, the Batwa lived in Bwindi, until they were evicted in the early 1990s and forced to settled in camps at the edge of the forest. There, they faced marginalisation and poverty.  

But against the odds, they’ve kept their connection to their forest home. From working with ITF to grow trees from Bwindi seeds, to making a living from agroforestry and eco-tourism. 

On a monitoring visit to our project, the guides took the ITF team into their old forest home, so we could see Bwindi through the eyes of the Batwa People. 

A living pharmacy for Indigenous People 

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is crowded with extraordinary, life-saving plants, which are for the Batwa a living, growing pharmacy. 

For example, the African cherry can treat numerous health problems, from chest pain to prostate cancer. 

“As we’re not used to going to these modern hospitals, we use this tree as our medicine,” explains Jovans Nyiragashibwa, a Batwa elder. “When we were evicted, we had no chance to access these tree species.” 

But thanks to the ITF project, “we connected with Ugandan authority, to collect seedlings, then we propagate them in the community, where we can access the medicine without going into the forest.” 

The Batwa are using Bwindi seeds to grow a veritable medicine cabinet of helpful trees, which treat snakebites, worms, stomach pains, breastfeeding problems and more. 

Bwindi trees flourishing in a Batwa tree nursery

A tree for all occasions 

Some Bwindi trees had endless uses for the Batwa Indigenous People. Like the southern prickly ash, also known as the Hercules club.  

This spiny tree was the answer to many Batwa needs: 

“It produces a scent which is good, and it works as a perfume for the Batwa,” says a guide.  

“Secondly, the tree is also being used to soften the skins. You remember, at first, the Batwa, we were putting on the skins of the animals. So it was used to soften the skins, in order to be comfortable on someone’s body.” 

In many ways the prickly ash was at the centre of the Batwa way of life, but it’s also being recognised outside of the forest.   

“This tree is very, very important in terms of medicine. It is now being integrated into other plant species to make Cofedex, but the Batwa Indigenous People used it to treat respiratory diseases.” 

The hunting ground 

Bwindi was where the Batwa lived, worked, ate – and hunted. 

Jovans showed us the steep cliff where the Batwa used to hunt – a very hilly and dangerous spot. She described not just how they caught the animals, but how after they die, “their life force stays within the park”. 

With this, she gave us a glimpse into the Batwa’s understanding of the forest, where all things are deeply, intricately connected.  

Our guide Jovans lived in Bwindi for decades before she was evicted. She has an immense amount of knowledge - of the trees, the wildlife and the forest as a whole.

Preserving a way of life 

After the eviction, it seemed that both the Batwa’s welfare and their affinity with the forest was under threat. 

But ITF are working with the Batwa to create “pocket-forests”, planted with seeds taken from Bwindi mother trees, nurturing species which will give them access to vital resources and help maintain their cultural identity – from food and medicine to traditional worship. 

They’re also planting trees in the local community, to restore the land and protect the people from soil erosion.

Trees are also creating new, sustainable livelihoods, to help the Batwa to prosper financially – for example, agroforestry, where trees and crops grow together to produce excellent harvests. 

There are even plans for gardens of medicinal plants, according to Lamek, chairman of our community partner in Nyanamu, the place where most of the Batwa are now living. 

“We are going to make a botanical garden, which can feed the whole world in botanical medicine,” he says, eyes shining. 

There are still many challenges for the Batwa Indigenous People. But they are flourishing in spite of them, and their unique connection to the forest lives on. 

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