Ancestral Land Preservation Strategies

Land as Identity

For the Okarowok Wibye Acel clan, land is not merely an economic asset — it is the physical embodiment of identity, ancestry, and belonging. The clan's ancestral territory, spanning approximately 15,000 square miles across the Lango sub-region of northern Uganda, is the ground upon which the founding ancestors walked, farmed, and were buried. Every hill, river, and grove within this territory carries a name and a story; every boundary marker was placed by an ancestor whose memory is still honoured in clan ceremonies. To lose this land would be to lose the clan itself.

Traditional Land Stewardship

Long before Uganda had a formal land registry, the Okarowok clan maintained its territorial integrity through a sophisticated system of customary land governance. Land was held communally by the clan, with individual families allocated use rights by the clan council. Boundaries were maintained through oral agreements reinforced by ceremony — the planting of specific trees, the construction of earthen markers, and the regular performance of boundary-walking rituals in which elders and young men traversed the clan's perimeter together, reciting the names of the ancestors who had established each boundary point. This system ensured that every adult male knew the clan's territory intimately and could defend it in any dispute.

The Threat of Land Alienation

The post-conflict period following the LRA insurgency brought new threats to Okarowok land. Internally displaced persons returning from camps found their land occupied by strangers; speculators took advantage of the chaos to acquire land through fraudulent transactions; and the expansion of commercial agriculture created pressure to convert communal land to individual freehold titles. The clan's executive council responded by establishing a Land and Environment Committee charged with documenting all clan land, supporting members in registering their customary rights under the Uganda Land Act, and providing legal assistance to those facing dispossession.

Modern Conservation Techniques

The clan has embraced modern conservation science as a complement to traditional stewardship. Working with environmental NGOs and the National Forestry Authority, the Okarowok Land and Environment Committee has mapped the clan's remaining forest cover, identified degraded areas for reforestation, and established community tree nurseries that produce indigenous species for planting on clan land. Wetlands within the clan's territory — which serve as water sources, fish habitats, and flood buffers — have been demarcated and protected from encroachment. These efforts are framed not as external impositions but as extensions of the clan's ancestral obligation to care for the land.

Securing the Future

The clan's long-term land strategy combines legal registration, community education, and ecological restoration. Young people are taught the clan's land history and boundaries as part of their cultural education, ensuring that the next generation will be as committed to land stewardship as their grandparents were. The clan is also exploring the establishment of a community land trust that would hold key parcels of ancestral land in perpetuity, beyond the reach of individual sale or government acquisition. The goal is simple: that the grandchildren of today's clan members will still be able to stand on Okarowok soil and say, "This is where we come from."