Rwanda

Called the “Land of a Thousand Hills,” Rwanda has a mostly mountainous landscape that includes the volcanic Virunga range in the northwest, home to what is estimated to be half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. About seven million people are squeezed between Rwanda’s borders, making it one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. Forests, once extensive, are now concentrated in the western mountains and the Lake Kivu area. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) began work in Rwanda in 1978, by supporting Amy Vedder and Bill Weber’s studies of mountain gorilla ecology and the socio-economic context for conservation. Based upon their findings, Vedder and Weber helped to establish a program of mountain gorilla tourism as a way to generate revenue and employment for the local people and to help protect the gorillas and their habitat. The success of this effort reversed the gorillas’ decline and helped restore their numbers to 380 in 2004.

In the mid-1980s WCS broadened its program in Rwanda, adding a focus on the little-known Nyungwe Forest. Since 1987, WCS has assisted the Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) in the conservation and management of Nyungwe, the largest known mid-altitude forest of Africa. To protect the colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, eagles, hornbills, and other spectacular species that live there, the government of Rwanda created the Nyungwe National Park in 2004.

The Human Aspect
During the 1990s, Rwanda experienced a traumatic period of civil war and genocide. Recent success in reconciliation has included an emphasis on decentralization and local political control. In line with this, WCS's Nyungwe Forest Conservation Project (PCFN) has entered into new partnerships with local communities. With ORTPN, PCFN staff work in cooperation with Local Councils to raise public awareness about conservation, provide information on natural resource issues, and help to control illegal activities within Nyungwe National Park.

Threats
Political stability, security, and economic recovery remain central preoccupations of the Rwandan government, as does continued attention to AIDS prevention and treatment. This limits the government's ability to focus attention and resources on park management. Meanwhile, high human population densities and chronic rural poverty generate pressure to convert protected areas to farm and grazing land and to exploit forest resources such as bamboo, firewood, and wildlife.

WCS Activities
Since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, WCS has focused its efforts on rebuilding the staffing, infrastructure, and financing required for effective conservation. At the national level, WCS is the lead implementing agency for a United Nations Development Programme effort to help the government of Rwanda restore and enhance its management capacity in and around protected areas. This initiative is being conducted with the Ministry of Lands, Environment, Forest, Water and Natural Resources (MINITERE), in close collaboration with the Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN).

WCS provides direct support to the management of parks and wildlife, and supports ORTPN in tackling immediate threats. Details about WCS work in each of the three protected areas in Rwanda can be found in the Section Topics on the left.

Volcanoes National Park
The montane forest harbors highly endangered wildlife, including mountain gorillas and golden monkeys.

Akagera National Park
This savanna/wetland complex provides habitats for hippopotamuses, giraffes, zebras, leopards, crocodiles, and nearly 600 species of birds.

Nyungwe National Park
The largest remaining lower montane forest on the continent of Africa contains many species of plants and animals and high levels of endemism (for example, it has more endemic bird species than any other protected area in the Albertine Rift).

Important Next Steps for WCS in Rwanda

• Design and secure funding for long-term protected areas management and capacity-building.
• Develop a five-year management plan for Nyungwe National Park with ORTPN and local political authorities.
• Promote sustainable ecotourism in Nyungwe, including habituation of primate groups and creation of appropriate-scale tourism infrastructure.
• Develop a ranger-based monitoring program in Akagera National Park.
• Consolidate current activities into a coherent national WCS program.
• Inspire and inform the next generation of Rwandan conservation leaders