Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

Satellite images of Nyungwe and Kibira (1986). Landsat images provided by the INFORMS project. For more information visit www.whrc.org/africa or contact Dr. Nadine Laport at nlaporte@whrc.org

Nyungwe forest is 980 km² of tropical montane forest, contiguous with the Kibira National Park in Burundi. Combined, these two protected areas form the largest block of forest in east Africa - between 1,500 and 2,300 metres in altitude.  Important for its population of endemic species, Nyungwe ranks high in the priority setting that WCS completed for the Albertine Rift. It has a high diversity of primate species with 13 species recorded for the forest. Of particular interest are the large social groups of Angolan Colobus (Colobus angolensis), which may number over 400 individuals. These are the largest aggregations of this species known in the world. Nyungwe also contains a variety of habitats including montane forest, bamboo, grasslands, swamps and bogs, and is very mountainous. Thus, it has great potential as a tourist destination. Furthermore, the number of primates and endemic birds that can be seen (more than elsewhere in east Africa) complements well the visit to mountain gorillas in the north of Rwanda.

Nyungwe faces a variety of threats, but recently,  the greatest has been fires that have occurred in El Nino years and have destroyed large areas of the forest. WCS is undertaking research to look at the most cost-effective methods of encouraging the regeneration of the forest in these areas. Below are some examples:

PCFN
WCS established the Projet Conservation de la Forêt Nyungwe (PCFN) in 1986 to support the conservation of this forest. Working with the national parks authority (ORTPN) in Rwanda, PCFN supports many activities concerned with its management.  Currently, the project focuses on four main areas of support:

• Law enforcement
• Tourism
• Research and monitoring
• Community education

Law Enforcement
Since the genocide that devastated Rwanda in 1994, WCS has been helping ORTPN rebuild its staff and capacity. Following the genocide there was much insecurity in the country and poaching increased in the forest. As a result, many of the larger mammals declined in numbers, particularly the duikers and bushpigs. Elephants became extinct in the forest after the last one was shot and killed in 1998. In response to the need to strengthen and improve the operations of the rangers, WCS worked with ORTPN to provide training to new recruits, provide uniforms and materials to operate in the forest, and establish a monitoring system based on data collected by the rangers.

Tourism

Guide with tourists at the Uwinka visitors center in Nyungwe

In the late 1980s, PCFN encouraged tourism in the forest and developed a system of trails around a tourist center (known as Uwinka) within the forest. Tourist numbers steadily climbed until the civil war broke out in 1990.

However, the draw of mountain gorilla tourism attracts many people to Rwanda. Nyungwe keeps these tourists in the country and increases the foreign revenues raised by the government, thereby helping the country rebuild itself. To date, six species of primate are in the process of being or have already been habituated for tourism, including: chimpanzees, grey-cheeked mangabeys, blue monkeys, Angolan colobus, L'hoest's monkeys and owl-faced monkeys.

The forest also contains 26 of the Albertine Rift endemic birds, more than any other site in east Africa. Steep hills and a road that cuts through the forest allowing easy views of the canopy make this place an ideal place for bird tourism. The forest also has over 100 species of orchid and many other flowering plants of interest. Since the genocide tourism has started to recover and recently there has been a large increase in the numbers of people visiting Nyungwe.

Research and Monitoring

Research Assistants collecting data in Nyungwe

Since it was formed, PCFN has undertaken a long-term research and monitoring program and has collaborated with outside researchers, notably from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Antioch. The research has focused on the ecology of some of the primate species; in particular, the ecology of the blue and L'hoest's guenons and the large groups of colobus. More recently, studies have looked at the chimpanzees which occur at the highest altitudes known for this species. Much of the research is directly applied to conservation and has been used to plan and implement the tourism program, as well as investigate some of the threats the forest faces - such as the impacts of small-scale gold mining and fire.

Community Education
The density of people living around Nyungwe Forest is one of the highest on the whole continent. Naturally, there are huge pressures to convert the forest to agricultural land; but there are also strong arguments against this. The land is not particularly fertile and is very steep, so landslides usually occur where the forest is cut.

A forest reserve just north of Nyungwe, Gishwati Forest, was completely converted to agriculture following the return of refugees to Rwanda in 1998/9. This resulted in major landslides that have killed many people, as well as the drying up of streams that provided water to many communities outside the forest. Nyungwe is incredibly important as a watershed in Rwanda and provides water to about 75% of the country. WCS has therefore developed a program that works with local communities to educate them about the importance of the forest for their own survival. A new approach incorporates an elected member from each village committee appointed as responsible for the environment . Projects are then facilitated through these people. The level of illegal activities has subsequently dropped. One indication that this project is succeeding is that today, large groups of  people can be mobilized to fight the forest fires when they occur.