MY STAY IN NYUNGWE NATIONAL PARK WITHIN CONSERVATION COMMUNITY FIELD WORK AT CHIMPANZEE CONSERVATION PROJECT

NYUNGWE NATIONAL PARK

Nyungwe National Park is a high-altitude mountainous rainforest in south-western of Rwanda and it is rich in Biodiversity especially in endemic species. Intact mid-elevation forests (1600-2000M) like Nyungwe are rare in Africa. Nyungwe is one of the last places in Africa to maintain this type of crucial forest. At over 1000 km², Nyungwe is Africa’s largest protected mountain rainforest.

CHIMPANZEE CONSERVATION PROJECT IN NYUNGWE NATIONAL PARK

The Chimpanzee Conservation Project in Nyungwe National Park (NNP) of Rwanda is a project of researchers from Antioch University New England (Professor Beth Kaplin and Robin Martino) collaborating with students from National University of Rwanda(NUR) and I was one of students from National University  of Rwanda involving in the research. The research was aimed to Compare and contrast how different land use types or buffer zones around NNP influence or mediate chimpanzee interactions with the surrounding human population.

THE STAY AT UWINKA STATION

Uwinka station is one of lodge and camp station inside Nyungwe National Park. It is located on the road Huye-Rusizi. Uwinka station is great natural and healthy place to stay during your research or in tourism in the NNP I wished to stay there forever. I and the team of four people we stayed at Uwinka station for one week and each day we wake up at 5AM, do the toilet, prepare all materials for the field and get ourselves ready for the field.  We left Uwinka at 7AM and walked for two hours to Banda where we met people at home or in the farm. We interviewed them and take GPS points for his/her farm in around one hour, each day we did around 10 people. We left Banda at 3PM, back to Uwinka we walked around three hours because it was to escape mountains. For the whole week it was like that exception has been on Sunday when we left to Gisakura station.

THE STAY AT GISAKURA STATION

Gisakura is a station outside the Park at Nyamasheke side on road Huye-Rusizi. We have enjoyed the camping at Rwanda Development Board building near the park in tea plantation. Here the field work was very easier it didn’t take too long to reach local population. We stayed there for four days, each day we started working at 8AM to 3PM. It was a great fun, I enjoyed watching L'hoesty monkeys in trees and birds especially beautiful green Colombes with binoculars.

CONCLUSION

I have had a great lovely time, please come all and enjoy the beauty of Nyungwe National Park and its surroundings.