Batwa/Great Lakes Twa are one of the last groups of short people commonly known as pygmys/keepers of the Forest people.
After gazetting bwindi as a National Park, they consequently could nolonger live in a hunter gather lifestyle in the forest.
Batwa now some of the poorest people in the world as a result with a high infant mortality rate and low life expectancy.
The history of these small-statured people is long and rich.
They survived by hunting small game using arrows or nets and gathering plants, fruit in the rain forest.
They lived in huts constructed of leaves and branches, moving frequently in search of fresh supplies of food.
The Batwa lived in harmony with the forest and its creatures, including the mountain gorillas, for a long period of time.
Anthropologists estimate that pygmy tribes like Great Lakes Twa had existed in the equatorial forests for 60,000 years or more.
However pygmies in Bwindi impenetrable national park are today living in outside communities.
Attractions
- Bwindi forest National Park
- Batwa culture
