The Forest of Hope, Gishwati, upgraded to a National Park
Forest of Hope Association (FHA) is happy to announce that the Government of Rwanda upgraded the conservation status of Gishwati forest to a National Park. Gishwati forest and Mukura forest form the fourth park of the country called “Gishwati-Mukura National Park”. The Rwandan Parliament voted for the law creating this park on 3rd September 2015. The creation of this new park is a process that involved different stakeholders. FHA much appreciated the good collaboration of the local community, local leaders and government institutions.
A section of the core Gishwati forest, part of Gishwati-Mukura National Park
The size of Gishwati forest as a part of this new Park is 1,836 hectares which includes a buffer zone of 200 hectares and an extension of TWABUGEZI, the small corridor joining the core forest to Nduruma-Kinyenkanda, the area under natural regeneration.
The Current Size of nothern part of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park (Map produced by Rwanda Natural Resources Authority)
The Gishwati-Mukura National Park is home to a number of threatened species including: eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, listed as Threatened on the IUCN Red List); golden monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis kandti, listed as Endangered); mountain monkeys (Cercopithecus l’hoesti, listed as Vulnerable); and more than 130 species of birds including 14 that are endemic to the Albertine Rift and two IUCN Vulnerable species: Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) and Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum).
From 2012 to current, FHA achieved a lot in nothern part of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park: illegal use of the forest resources declined sharply; the natural forest regenerated considerably and 12 jobs were created of which 11 are occupied by people from local villages. We support 13 eco-clubs in local schools and local farmers in beekeeping and in ecotourism development as alternatives to the unsustainable use of natural forest resources. We also created research partnerships with two American universities on Gishwati chimpanzee behavioral ecology, forest dynamics and crop raiding mitigation strategies. In addition, our surveys show an increase in positive attitudes of local people toward the conservation of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park, moving from 27% in 2008 to 56% in 2011 and to 75% in 2013.
The community support has been crucial to the conservation success of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park. Thus, we plan to continue engaging local people in the conservation of this forest with the new park management. The good example of community commitment is Community Forest Protection Initiative Agents (eco-guards) who volunteered for 6 months after the closure of GACP when FHA was looking for funding to support the forest patrols. Also all local people showed that they want to contribute to the conservation of this forest when in each of the 6 Cells adjacent to the forest, they elected a Community Forest Protection Initiative Committee made of 3 people to represent them in monitoring the work of the Agents and reporting non-sustainable use of the forest resources to Cells officials for law enforcement.
Six Community Forest Protection Initiative Committees with the Agents from their respectful Cells
People around nothern part of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park are indeed getting ready for tourism. They have developed different community tourism products including handcraft making, traditional dances and traditional healing. We are confident that once tourism starts in the area, visitors will not only experience the forest hiking and biodiversity but also local culture, knowledge and skills.
Handcraft making in Gishwati, Women grouped in Covakaru Cooperative
Traditional dance club of historically marginalized people in Gishwati
Traditional healers during the Forest Visit to collect clippings and seedlings of plants that they planted on their agricultural plots for traditional medicine
Forest of Hope Association (FHA) is a National NGO that works on conservation of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park in Rwanda since January 2012. While we currently focus on the nothern part of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park, our mission is engaging local communities in conservation of Protected Areas. Our main activities are forest protection, community outreach, human-wildlife conflicts resolution, improving local livelihoods, community tourism development and facilitating research on the forest and its biodiversity.