PROJECT TITTLE: REMOTE SENSING, IDENTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF TOURISM AND CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES IN WESTERN UGANDA

PROJECT DURATION: 48 MONTHS

IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION:              RUTANDEKIRE AND BUREBE FOUNDATION LIMITED

DURATION:                    4 YEARS:

PROJECT BUDGET:    $4,915,316

Project Title

Remote Sensing, Identification, and Documentation of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Sites in Western Uganda

Implementing Organization

Rutandekire and Burebe Foundation Limited

Project Duration

48 months (4 years)

Project Budget

USD 4,915,316 (Four Million, Nine Hundred Fifteen Thousand, Three Hundred Sixteen Dollars)

The proposed study, Remote Sensing, Identification, and Documentation of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Sites in Western Uganda, aims to systematically map, document, and analyze cultural and tourism heritage assets in the western region of Uganda. Despite Uganda’s rich tourism potential, the majority of cultural and heritage sites remain undocumented, limiting opportunities for effective planning, conservation, and sustainable tourism development. This project, implemented by Rutandekire and Burebe Foundation Limited, integrates advanced geospatial technologies with local community knowledge to generate a comprehensive inventory of tourism and cultural resources, supporting evidence-based decision-making for policymakers, planners, and conservation stakeholders.

Remote sensing data will be obtained from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Explorer platform using Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) imagery for the years 1992, 2002, 2012, and 2022. For each reference year, data spanning three consecutive years will be collected to improve image clarity and reduce obstruction from cloud cover. Only satellite images with a maximum cloud cover of 1% and 30-meter spatial resolution will be utilized to ensure high-quality, accurate mapping.

Data processing will employ ArcGIS 10.8 and ERDAS Imagine 15, with pre-processing procedures including geometric, atmospheric, and topographic corrections to achieve spatial and temporal comparability. All imagery bands will be resampled to a common pixel resolution to minimize spatial scale variability. The Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique (ISODATA) will be used for unsupervised classification to identify land cover types and detect tourism and cultural heritage sites across the study area.

This approach addresses critical gaps in cultural heritage and tourism planning by producing a validated geospatial database of Western Uganda’s cultural assets. The project also emphasizes community knowledge capture, ensuring that indigenous narratives, practices, and oral histories are systematically documented and integrated into the official record. The outputs will facilitate evidence-based planning, support sustainable tourism development, and enhance local cultural preservation.

By combining cutting-edge remote sensing technology with participatory approaches, this project contributes to sustainable development, heritage conservation, and socio-economic growth, aligning with national development priorities such as Uganda Vision 2040 and the Third National Development Plan (NDP III). The knowledge generated will provide actionable insights for tourism promotion, heritage preservation, and community engagement, ensuring that Western Uganda’s cultural and tourism resources are both protected and accessible for future generations.