| I am delighted to share with you that last week on Thursday October 1st, we signed a management agreement with the Government of Rwanda for Nyungwe National Park, signalling an historic step to secure the sustainability of one of Africa’s most important Afromontane rainforests. Following our decade-long partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) for Akagera National Park, this new commitment to Nyungwe will preserve its considerable biodiversity and secure lasting benefits for people and wildlife in Rwanda.
The Government of Rwanda has provided global leadership through its actions to achieve meaningful results in the protection of natural resources. Their investment in the restoration and long-term protection of their national parks, integrating biodiversity conservation within a social and economic development strategy, enhances the benefits of these critical ecosystems not just for the nation, but for the continent and the planet.
Located in the south-west of Rwanda, Nyungwe represents some of the oldest, largest and most intact Afromontane rainforest in all of central Africa, harbouring exceptional levels of faunal and floral diversity. Occupying a total 1,019 km2 in the heart of the Albertine Rift, the park is refuge to a quarter of Africa’s primates – 13 species including chimpanzees and rare Hamlyn’s and L’Hoest’s monkeys. Among the more than 1,000 plant, over 90 mammal and 300 bird species recorded, many of these are endemic and found only within Nyungwe and in this high priority conservation region. Moreover, the park represents a vital water catchment, feeding both the Congo and Nile Basins as well as providing most of Rwanda’s fresh water.
We look forward to this hopeful next chapter in working together with partners and communities to conserve Nyungwe as a biodiversity hotspot, optimising its exceptional potential for conservation-based tourism and enhancing its status as a national treasure. Click here to watch a video of the signing of the management agreement.
Nyungwe National Park is the 19th park to join African Parks’ management portfolio. This is only possible thanks to the core financial support of the Rwanda Development Board, The Wyss Foundation, Rob and Melani Walton Foundation, the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Fondation Segré.
With all good wishes, |
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good ideas for collaborating with african park as suggestion think about local community rely on nature resources