Protected area management in developing countries faces the challenges of building support for conservation among neighbouring residents and monitoring the social and ecological impacts of conservation programming. This study examined a collaborative resource management (CRM) programme at Kibale National Park (Uganda) that permits residents to fish inside the Park. Like other integrated conservation and development programmes, the goals are to help alleviate poverty and encourage support for conservation and conservation-related behaviours. The programme's impact was empirically analysed using an 81 item personal survey, with 94 CRM fishers and 91 comparison group respondents, and additional data from semi-structured interviews and document review. Fishers’ annual income was significantly greater (median = US$ 376.02 yr−1) than that of the comparison group (median = US$ 196.19 yr−1; p < 0.001), and their tribal affiliation influenced earnings. Fishers indicated greater support for conservation (p < 0.01) than the comparison group. Although some CRM fishers deterred illegal activity, some may extract resources illegally. This study demonstrates that CRM is a viable tool for promoting support for conservation and increasing income, although monitoring of programme participants is needed to deter illegal behaviours and sustain the resource base.

Seasonality in tropical forests can be more subtle than that of temperate forests but still affects the resources available to wildlife. Much work has been done describing changes in fruit availability and dietary composition but the nutritional quality of any particular food item is assumed to be relatively constant. We investigated seasonal changes in the quality of the ripe fruit of Celtis durandii, a common tree that produces fruit year-round and is important in the diets of many species. The lipid content of the ripe fruit was found to be highly variable (0.3–30.8% dry matter) among months and this variation was positively correlated with the summed daily rainfalls of the previous and concurrent months. The amount of this fruit in the diets of three frugivorous primate species (Cercopithecus mitis, Cercopithecus ascanius and Lophocebus albigena) was positively related to measured or estimated lipid levels in the fruit. Such predictable changes in the quality of a constantly available fruit have not been previously reported and suggest that the resources provided by tropical forests may be more seasonal than shown by common measures of fruit availability.