Gishwati-Mukura National Park management has been put under Rwanda Development Board (RDB) after the park was gazetted to pave way for development of tourism activities.

Patrick Nsabimana, the coordinator of forest restoration and conservation project at Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), told The New Times last week that though all requirements are not in place to start tourism activities, a tourism master plan for the park is currently being developed and construction of park infrastructure will start soon.

The rehabilitation of the highly degraded Gishwati-Mukura landscape is ongoing and has so far covered several areas within and outside the park as part of five-year $9.5 million project started in 2016, according to the coordinator.

"A comprehensive biodiversity survey is underway together with developing a tourism master plan, which will inform some tourism products,” he said.

He said efforts have so far focused on the rehabilitation of illegal mining sites inside and outside the core park.

"Planting of indigenous species inside the park is also another activity that has received lots of efforts and has registered significant progress, coupled with the removal of some exotic species like eucalyptus,” Nsabimana said.

In the park’s buffer, he said, there is an agreement with landowners on activities that will be practiced in a way that does not compromise conservation efforts, cause any human-wildlife conflicts and should come with benefits for local communities.

Nsabimana said communities have been encouraged to group themselves into cooperatives and come up with bankable income-generating projects.

There are 15 such cooperatives in the four districts REMA operates in (Rubavu, Nyabihu, Ngororero and Rutsiro).

"The cooperatives have designed projects ranging from agriculture to modern livestock farming, beekeeping, ecotourism and model mining, among others. We are funding the projects in phases and we hope that by its closure, the project will have benefited at least 5,000 households in the four districts,” he said.

REMA has set aside about Rwf1 billion for funding community projects to enable landowners neighbouring Mukura-Gishwati National Park to be able to manage its buffer zone while improving their livelihoods.

It is also expected that the communities around Gishwati-Mukura National Park will also be able to benefit from revenue sharing scheme once the park starts generating income from tourism revenues, as it is applicable to other parks.

In 2013, The Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS), a regional organisation working for biodiversity conservation, found that Mukura forest resources and ecosystems services are worth more than $1 million per year, while other researchers also estimated that value of ecosystems services provided by Gishwati forest is $3 million per year.

The park is being prepared so as to be recognised by UNESCO World heritage as a biosphere reserve, according to officials.

The project targets to restore natural forest (653 hectare) in Gishwati–Mukura National Park, restore buffer zone plantations (500 hectares) around the park, plant natural forests (700 hectares) and sustainable land management on 1406 hectares while over 18 tree species will be introduced.

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