Human encroachment challenge to conservation - EAC Ministers

NORTHERN PROVINCE MUSANZE, KINIGI — The visiting Ministers of the East African Community (EAC) on Tourism and Wild life committee, have said that human encroachment is one of the outstanding challenges to conservation efforts. The ministers made the remarks on Thursday in Musanze, while visiting the Volcano National Park in Kinigi – where they also inspected community projects funded through the revenue sharing scheme around the park. Speaking after a field tour in Kinigi, the Minister of Trade and Industry Monique Nsanzabaganwa, said that the tour aims at understanding what each country can offer in terms of lessons on how to nurture economic development. While in Musanze, the Ministers who were accompanied by their Permanent Secretaries for a two-day field study, also went for mountain gorilla tracking before returning to Kigali for a tourism conference slated for today (Saturday). The ministers shared amongst themselves experiences on how the human-wild life conflict is being handled within their respective countries promising to have more discussion about the issue in the conference. The community projects which were set up using the 5% revenue sharing policy include schools, two bridges, a 72km fence constructed to prevent stray animals from destroying farmers’ crops, Sabyinyo Community Lodge and the proposed Kinigi Artisans’ commercial complex. On the progress of Rwanda tourism and conservation efforts, Chantal Rosette Rugamba, the Rwanda Development Boards’ Deputy CEO in charge of Tourism and Conservation highlighted the steady progress made in Rwanda’s tourism industry and the accruing benefits it has accumulated which she attributed to linking people to the conservation campaigns. Ends