Engaging with the communities on conservation, sustainable livelihoods and human-wildlife conflict mitigation means that Nyungwe is well placed to support healthy ecosystems to benefit wildlife and people long into the future.
Community Engagement
Community environmental awareness meetings take place regularly with nearly 18,000 people attending over 170 meetings during 2023. Community Liaison Officers are stationed at different sites within the communities surrounding the park to support this relationship, as well as oversee education and economic-development activities. The eco-ranger team acts as a facilitator between conservation law enforcement and communities, forming a link between the community and the park.
Education and Environmental Awareness
Education is a vital part of the long-term vision of Nyungwe. In 2022, nearly 1,600 school children and local leaders visited Nyungwe.
Sustainable Enterprise Development
To provide local communities with alternative, sustainable livelihood opportunities, African Parks is exploring various initiatives to stimulate local businesses that reduce pressure on the park’s ecosystem.
Current projects around the park include beekeeping and community tourism programmes supporting local people with skills development to become tourist guides. A team of 21 community freelance guides now operate within the park’s tourism structure.
In addition, to a pig farming project and demo apiary, new partner cooperatives are being formed, bringing the total to 14 cooperatives across the five districts surrounding the park, each earning or generating income. For example, the Cyamudongo Community Tourism Promotion Cooperative has begun earning income from its coffee shop and accommodation. On the horizon are medicinal plant and bamboo cultivation, fish farming, agroforestry and further tourism-focused enterprises, designed to replace unsustainable harvesting from the forest and grow a conservation-linked local economy.