The management of Nyungwe National Park, would like to address the ongoing threats to the conservation of the ecosystem within the park. Accidents on the Kitabi-Gisakura road and illegal dumping of garbage are among the primary concerns.
Nyungwe National Park, spanning 101,900 hectares, boasts a diverse range of wildlife including 85 mammal species, 13 types of primates, over 322 bird species, 32 amphibians, 38 reptiles, and 1068 plant species.
While the roads connecting the Southern and Western Provinces through Nyungwe Park, as well as the Pindura-Bweyeye route, are essential for transportation, they also pose risks to the park’s biodiversity. The dense forest environment makes accidents common, threatening the safety of animals and plants in the area.
According to Mr. Protais Niyigaba, Nyungwe National Park manager, in 2023 there were 74 accidents in which 225 animals were killed by large trucks. Most of them are mammals, reptiles and birds.
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Six metric tons of waste were also thrown along the tarmac road, Mr. Niyigaba has highlighted.
He said, “This road is more important to the country, but its use threatens the ecosystem as there are accidents that kill animals. We have a team responsible for monitoring, rescue and control of killed animals.
In order to help road users to drive at the specified speed, six speed cameras have been installed, but there is still a need for other measures so that people can use this road properly, both in terms of avoiding littering and accidents.”
Apart from road accidents, there other animals that are killed by poachers. The most targeted species include antelope, deer, mouse-like (Isiha), among others.
The law N° 064/2021 of 14/10/2021 governing biological diversity prescribes a prison sentence of between one and three years for a person convicted for poaching, injuring, taking, harassing or breeding a wild animal and a fine of between Rwf 500,000 and Rwf 1 million.
If the offence is committed against critically endangered or endangered species, the penalty is a prison term of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and a fine of not less than Rwf5 million but not more than Rwf 10 million.
Nyungwe National Park is located in five districts, namely, Rusizi, Nyamasheke and Karongi in Western Province; Nyaruguru and Nyamagabe in Southern Province.
In 1958 and 1973, it reduced in size to 150 squares kilometers due to wild fires and deforestation and animals such elephants and buffaloes were killed.
During the Genocide in 1994, the research facilities that were set at Uwinka Centre, were destructed and some of the staff of the former ORTPN (the institution which was in charge of Nyungwe Management) were killed.
