Tourism stakeholders in Uganda have voiced strong opposition to ongoing oil exploration activities in the country’s most popular national park – Murchison Falls – where commercial oil exports are slated to begin by June 2026.
Since oil exploration efforts kicked off in 2015, infrastructure such as oil rigs, well pads, flowlines and pipelines have been developed in the park.
Between February and July 2025, the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) conducted community-based research to assess the perceptions and attitudes of Ugandan tourism businesses towards the oil and gas industry.
The 66 industry respondents surveyed found the oil and gas sector accounts for 61.3% of the key risks faced by the tourism sector.
“Risks including construction of oil infrastructure such as roads and pipelines in protected areas, biodiversity destruction, increased poaching and increased demand for accommodation, leading to higher costs for tourists, were identified by the tourism sector stakeholders,” the AFIEGO report states.
In 2024, Murchison Falls accounted for 32% of all visitors to national parks, followed by Queen Elizabeth National Park at 29%.
The research followed another report published by AFIEGO in 2024, which highlighted several negative impacts on wildlife as a result of the oil projects.
“For instance, the drilling rig in the park was implicated in negatively affecting elephants. The respondents observed that the vibrations from the rig were felt by elephants, which were increasingly moving from the park to surrounding communities.”
Respondents in the research also noted that the main drilling rig in Murchison Falls was responsible for increasing light pollution while paved roads increased motorised traffic and “changed the feel of the park” from a nature reserve to an industrial area.
AFEIGO additionally found the development of well pads near the Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Ramsar Site present a risk to aquatic biodiversity, fish species and hippos.
