• They are both helped and harmed by tourism.gorille(gorilla gorilla) image by nuno91 from Fotolia.com
  
  Traveling to a country like Uganda can bring excitement and adventure. The scenery and wildlife are what attract the growing Uganda tourist industry. Tourism is a subject that receives mixed reviews. Revenue sharing programs from national parks offered local communities a chance to develop. However it was stopped by government legislation. Tourist dollars do help the people however it can harm the wildlife. Uganda has also made a controversial decision to allow large game hunting, again harming the wildlife.
  
  

Bureaucracy

• Revenue sharing programs were started in Uganda in 1996. This allowed local communities in western Uganda to share some of the profits earned from the nearby national parks. The plan did have some early success with local communities sharing over $80,000 in tourist revenue profits. The communities were able to put this toward development and building schools. However, the success of the program attracted the attention of the Uganda parliament. They enacted tougher legislation that made creating profits nearly impossible. Although new attempts are expected, the corruption and bureaucracy of the government helps divert tourist money away from the communities that need it.
  
  

Wildlife

• One of the main attractions of Uganda is to see the gorillas. Tourists visits to habituated gorilla sites have brought both positive and negative aspects. To visit gorillas Uganda has created sites where they live. Gorilla populations in the inhabited areas contributed to some growth in population. However, the demand to see gorillas is so high that several locals are willing to accept bribes to take tourists to the sites. The potential earnings from bribes are so high that the welfare of the gorillas often becomes less of a priority. Some guides will allow tourists to get in closer to the gorillas than what is recommended. This is a safety issue for the tourist as and increases the likelihood of disease spreading.
  
  

Poaching and Hunting

• The demand for tourist money has lead to the rise of poaching and hunting. Poachers now have an easier time locating gorillas for hunting, since some are left in inhabited sites. Security around some of these sites is very inadequate to keep poachers out. Tourist money has lead to the reintroduction of big game hunting in Uganda. The hunting is conducted in certain areas and away from conservation areas. However, according to Baraza Wildlife Direct, Uganda doesn't have an adequate supply of wildlife to sustain big game hunting. They also state that Uganda has insufficient control measures to regulate the big game hunting industry.