The Batwa are the Indigenous people of Bwindi, often known as the forest’s original keepers. For generations, their lives and culture have been shaped by the forest and an intimate understanding of its plants, wildlife and changing rhythms. Their knowledge lives in the details: the medicinal properties of native plants, the signs animals leave behind, and the ways of living with the natural world passed down through their lineage.
Today, as the Batwa continue to navigate life beyond the forest they once called home, we are finding ways to keep this knowledge alive and create opportunities for their culture to thrive. At Erebero Hills, this begins with recognising the enduring relationship between people and the land.
Together with the Batwa, we are restoring 42 acres of land through an ambitious reforestation project. With 56,413 indigenous trees planted to date, the project is helping to restore native habitat, expand wildlife corridors and, over time, create an accessible forest where the Batwa can continue to practise traditional plant knowledge and pass on their cultural traditions.
Other initiatives, including beekeeping, syntropic farming, and mushroom growing are also exploring sustainable livelihood opportunities for local communities. It’s an approach that recognises that protecting a forest means supporting the people whose knowledge, heritage and future are intertwined with it.
Because the story of Bwindi isn’t written only in its trees or the wildlife beneath their canopy. It lives in the people who know this place, and in the possibilities that emerge when they have a meaningful role in shaping its future.
Come find it with us.
