The Shoebill is a globally threatened species on the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and Endangered on the National Red List for Uganda. With an estimated population of 3300-5300 mature individuals, the Shoebill continues to decline across its range. It inhabits fresh water wetlands in Afrotropical Africa spanning from South Sudan to Zambia.

In Uganda, the population is estimated at spread across 12 of the 34 Important Bird Areas and Mabamba wetland is one of the core breeding areas and a popular place for ecotourism. The wetland is key to the livelihoods of the surrounding local communities through ecotourism, fishing, sand mining and many other activities.

The Shoebill is faced with a number of threats that are leading to its decline across its range mostly resulting from human disturbance such as; hunting, nest disturbance, burning and illegal wildlife trade. The International Single Species’ Action Plan for the Shoebill whose goal is to increase the population of the species and reduce mortality identified numerous gaps to the conservation of the Shoebill. Among the gaps is the breeding ecology, movements of the Shoebill, shoebill-human interactions, threats and population trends.

We received support from the Rufford Foundation (Grant), Swiss Ornithological Institute and Friday 4 Birds (Satellite tags), Worthwild Africa and Renato (Trail Cameras) to monitor dispersal of shoebills and nesting. The project will be implemented at Mabamba Wetland, an Important Bird Area and a popular eco-tourism site on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The project aims at filling some of the gaps through studying the dispersal of young, movements and nesting requirements for the Shoebill using telemetry, trail cameras and local knowledge.