Regional efforts to tackle human-wildlife conflicts

MOUNTAIN Gorillas, hippos and various bird species are some of the most common tourist attractions in Virunga National Park. The park covers approximately790, 000 hectares of forest in the three countries of Rwanda, Uganda the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to figures from Rwanda Development Board (RDB), last year tourism sector generated US$253 million.The population in the vicinity of the national park has over the years closely worked together to conserve it. But stray animals that destroy crops pose a major threat to the communities. Recently residents living around the park, in Rwanda and DRC, built 2 kilometres parameter of stones and a trench to deter stray buffaloes and other wild animals which destroy crops whenever they come out of the park.“It is a way of ensuring that residents do not lose their harvests as a result of wildlife,” says Sam Mwandha, the Executive Secretary of Greater Virunga Trans-boundary Collaboration (GVTC).A mechanism to coordinate joint conservation efforts in the park is underway under which the government engages other partners both at the national and regional levels.Under the arrangement, a team of conservation managers, including park wardens, is constantly in the field, assessing and conducting patrols. The team also shares basic intelligence information.Rica Rwigamba, the Head of Tourism at RDB, says the institution has established a regional monitoring body in collaboration with the Uganda Wild Life Authority and the Congolese Institute for Conservation.“There is already an existing agreement which stipulates specific areas of collaboration where a team holds regular meetings to share ideas on how to address challenges regarding conservation,” she said.According to Rwigamba, some of the existing benefits include the revenue sharing policy where each of the countries has equal access to collected revenue depending on the origin of the wild animals.