Engaging local communities in conservation of chimpanzees in Rwanda Thierry Aimable INZIRAYINEZA, Coordinator/Forest of Hope Association (FHA) Kigali, 4 November 2015

1. Engaging local communities
in conservation of
chimpanzees in Rwanda
Thierry Aimable INZIRAYINEZA,
Coordinator/Forest of Hope Association (FHA)

2. Overview
Forest of Hope Association (FHA) is a local Non Government Organization
(NGO) working on conservation of the Gishwati Forest in Rwanda since January
2012 to current.
The FHA mission is to engage local communities in conservation of Gishwati
forest, activity that was done by the Great Ape Trust/ Gishwati Area Conservation
Program (GACP), an International NGO that conserved Gishwati Forest Reserve
from 2008 through 2011.
We are animating
surrounding
communities so that
Gishwati may become
a model for Rwanda of
how communities may
actively join in
protection and
stewardship of their
forests.

3. Biodiversity of the Gishwati Forest
• Eastern chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes schweinfurthii, listed as
Threatened on the IUCN Red List);
• Golden monkeys (Cercopithecus
mitis kandti, listed as Endangered);
• Mountain monkeys (Cercopithecus
l’hoesti, listed as Vulnerable);
• More than 130 species of birds
including 14 that are endemic to
the Albertine Rift and two IUCN
Vulnerable species: Martial Eagle
(Polemaetus bellicosus) and Grey
Crowned Crane (Balearica
regulorum).

4. The Community Forest protection Initiative(CFPI) is helping communities
around the forest to play an active role in Gishwati protection. The initiative
generated jobs. The communities around Gishwati are represented by 6 Agents
whose role is to patrol the entire forest and 6 committees of three people in each
cells was created to ensure community-based conservation and local ownership.
Human-wildlife conflict resolution: Conservation agreement with local farmers
reduced the occurrence of Crop raiding by wildlife and illegal cattle grazing. A
beekeeping business was started as an alternative solution to increase local farmer
income and capacity to mitigate these conflicts.
Community Education: Meetings with farmers, Historically marginalized people,
traditional healers, women and awareness campaigns using 13 eco-clubs in local
schools are organized. Based on experience of positive changes in terms of
improved ecosystem services, Local people changed their attitude towards
conservation initiative linked to the improvement of local economy
Community Development and Eco-tourism: supporting alternative source of
revenues to reduce dependency on forest resources.
Facilitating research to advise solutions linking conservation and local
development
FHA use the community partnership approach to link the
conservation and poverty alleviation

5. Key outcomes
• 10 job created (Gishwati Forest is protected by local people and
the population of chimpanzees has grown from 20 to 25)
• Local awareness about the importance of Gishwati forest is
increased
• Opportunity for the community development are created and
started to generate incomes
• Local dependence on forest resources is reduced.
• The capacity of local farmers to reduce conflicts between them
and the forest managers is strengthened

6. Supporting
Good working relationships with government agencies and other stakeholders
The technical support and advice from local government is a prerequisite for
success in Gishwati forest conservation. Army, police, Rutsiro District and local
leaders assist in forest patrols and law enforcement. Currently, together with
Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and Rwanda Natural Resources Authority
(RNRA), quarterly meetings are organized to monitor the work of forest
protection agents and to advocate for the larger protection of this Chimps
habitat.
Limiting
High Human population density and land scarcity in the region that increase
local pressure on the forest and its biodiversity (search of minerals, illegal cattle
grazing, firewood, charcoal and timber)
Insufficient local support for conservation activities
Lack of sustainable sources of funding for long-term conservation
Factors for the success in the conservation of chimpanzees in
Rwanda

7. Key lessons learnt
• Community based forest protection helps local communities to understand
the impact of their unsustainable activities on the forest and on their own future. It
does help them to think and decide how to improve their development without
relaying on the forest resources.
• Conservation education and awareness influence development results.
Conservation messages are sometimes complex and might often sound
contradictory to tradition and usages. Gishwati is a good example showing that
local people support the conservation of protected areas when they are helped to
understand the overall importance and the role of these areas in improving their
land productivity and livelihoods.
Also students once well informed, have been proven to become strong advocates
of the conservation cause among their families and communities. This is why
students, through schools, can be very strong relays of the Conservation
messages
• Developing economical alternatives /Human-wildlife conflict resolution: in
order to be willing to contribute to the conservation effort, local communities must
be assisted in developing alternatives to the forest resources use. This increases
revenue and thus reduces conflicts and the number of people who use the forest

8. Thank You