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Since 2020 Gannett Outfitters has been working with a tribe of conservation refugees in South West Uganda to empower lives and restore hope. We live in a culture that worships nature and this worship has caused unimaginable destruction on the lives of people across the globe.
Conservation Refugees
Conservation refugees are people who are forced from their homes when the land they live on is turned into a protected area such as a National Park. The United Nations (UN) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimate the range of conservation refugees worldwide is five million to tens of millions.
50% of the land designated for conservation protection was inhabited or regularly used at the time it was slated for protection
The United Nations estimate the range of conservation refugees worldwide is five million to tens of millions
Hundreds of thousands of people have died due to conservation efforts by governments and large conservation organizations
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The basic model for how much of the world approaches conservation is not rooted in science but rather the racist tactics of the 1800s which were designed to remove the Yosemite, Ahwahnechee, Kiowa, Blackfeet, and other tribes from the lands they used and lived on and push them into reservations. The modern conservation movement was based on the unscientific lie that for nature to thrive man must be completely removed from it. The truth is that there is no such thing as untouched wilderness. These vast lands of seemingly virgin wilderness are in almost each case used by or inhabited by groups of people at the time the land is or was slated for protection.
Keepers of the Forest
The Batwa people are one of the oldest documented tribes in Africa. They live high in the mountain forests, straddling several East African countries.
In 1991, the government of Uganda reclassified the lands the Batwa had lived on for millennia as national parks and forcibly removed the Batwa from them. This decision elevated the interests of Western conservation groups to protect mountain gorillas over the lives of the Batwa.
Four in ten children don't survive to age five
The average life expectancy for the Batwa is 28 years, 28.
The are an estimated 6,000 Batwa left
A People Forgotten
Despite their rainforest home being located within the borders of modern day Uganda the Batwa were never granted citizenship. Batwa men are unable to find work, Batwa women are mistreated and taken advantage of, and Batwa children are prevented from going to school, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and stigma.
Meet Adolophus
Adolophus was abandoned by his parents as a baby when they felt they could no longer take care of him. Today Adolophus lives at a school run by a Christian non-profit whose mission is to equip the Batwa with life skills and spread the hope of the gospel. There are hundreds of stories just like Adolophus' and our mission at Gannett Outfitters is to help make an impact and restore hope into the lives of the lost and abandoned.
Pastoralists of the Plains
Pastoralism dates back over 5,000 years. For generations, the nomadic Maasai pastoralists have moved their herds across Africa. This group of people helped to maintain ecological corridors and biodiversity. However, the Maasai way of life is disappearing due to traditional grazing lands being reclassified as protected areas. These reclassifications of land are pushed by large conservation organizations that promote the Western mindset that humankind must be removed for nature to thrive.
Our Mission
Since 2020 we have been on a mission to share the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ with conservation refugees and share their stories across the world encouraging people to steward nature and love people.