Akagera Park nearby residents were advised to preserve this park which will improve on tourism hence contribute to their development.

This was said by Telesphore Ngoga from Rwanda Development Board [RDB] in charge of connecting such parks and their close residents in the country, who added on saying that as the parks are preserved this will bring in more tourist which will increase on tourism production hence increase on the contribution given to the close residents.

“As many people visit the park, then market for tourism is also increased which makes it possible for the residents to sell any products they have to the tourists especially people with art and crafts hence be able to develop”, added on Ngoga.

“However though there is a programme of sharing the productivity got from tourism with the park’s neighbors, it was noted that many of such people still go hunting for the animals in the park which is a very big hindrance to developed tourism”, explained Ngoga.

He called on any one who finds such people to always give such information out and on time so that they can be dealt with

However, some of the residents said that they now know the benefits of preserving the parks.

Firipo Muhawenimana a resident of Mwili sector, Kayonza district said that with the help people are giving out to the different security organizations in getting park rangers this is a very every good sign that most of them know well the benefits of preserving the park.

“About 19 park rangers have so far been caught since January 2013 in Mwili sector”, explained on Muhawenimana.

Abaturage batuye mu nkengero za Parike y’Akagera barasabwa kurushaho kuyibungabunga kugira ngo itange umusaruro ufatika, kuko hari gahunda yo gusaranganya n’abaturiye Parike umusaruro w’ibikomoka ku bukerarugendo buyikorerwamo.

Ngoga Telesphore ushinzwe guhuza Parike z’igihugu n’abazituriye, akaba anashinzwe ishami ryo kubungabunga Parike z’igihugu mu kigo cy’igihugu cy’iterambere RDB, avuga ko mu gihe umusaruro w’ibikomoka ku bukerarugendo wiyongereye, n’uruhare ruhabwa abaturiye Parike ruzajya ruhita rwiyongera, ari na yo mpamvu basabwa kurushaho kuyibungabunga.

Ati “Muri gahunda dufite yo gusaranganya n’abaturiye Parike umusaruro ukomoka ku bukerarugendo, abasura Parike nibiyongera umusaruro wa parike uziyongera, rwa ruhare ruhabwa abaturage na rwo rwiyongere barusheho gutera imbere”

Yongeraho ko uko Parike isurwa n’abantu benshi bituma n’isoko ry’ubukerarugendo ryiyongera, n’abayituriye na bo bakaba bafite ibyo bashobora kugurisha ku nzira ya bamukerarugendo, cyane cyane abafite ibikorwa by’ubukorikori kuko baba bafite isoko ryoroheje.

N’ubwo ubuyobozi bwa Parike y’Akagera buvuga ko hari gahunda yo kujya busaranganya n’abaturage umusaruro w’ibikomoka ku bukerarugendo bukorerwa muri iyo Parike, haracyari n’imbogamizi y’abantu bahiga inyamaswa za Parike na barushimusi muri rusange nk’uko Ngoga akomeza abivuga.

Agira inama abaturage baturiye Parike yo kujya batungira agatoki ubuyobozi umuntu uwo ari we wese wangiza Parike kuko aba ahemukira abaturage benshi agamije inyungu ze bwite. Ibyo ngo byatuma Parike irushaho gutera imbere inyungu igirira igihugu muri rusange n’abayituriye ku buryo bw’umwihariko zikarushaho kwiyongera.

Abaturage batangiye gusobanukirwa n’akamaro ko kubungabunga Parike nk’uko bivugwa na Muhawenimana Firipo wo mu murenge wa Mwili mu karere ka Kayonza. Ibyo ngo abivuga ashingiye ku bufatanye bumaze iminsi bugaragara hagati y’abaturage n’inzego z’umutekano mu gukumira ba rushimusi bajya guhiga muri Parike y’Akagera.

Kuva mu kwezi kwa 01/2013 kugeza ubu, mu murenge wa Mwili hamaze gufatirwa ba  rushimusi bagera kuri 19 bagiye guhiga muri Parike y’Akagera ku buryo bunyuranye n’amategeko.

Akagera National park fencing will be over before March 2013, Jean Bosco Rutayisire; Director of TNH-EME (that is fencing Akagera national park) has said.

Fencing Akagera Park kicked off in May 2012 expecting to it to last in 9 months time in January 2013. Out of 110 kilometers, only 81 have been fenced but the remaining 29 kilometers are expected to be covered before March 2013 ends.

Explaining on the reasons for delayed completion, Rutayisire revealed that fencing materials took long to reach Rwanda as they were purchased from South Africa and China.

In addition, park fences could sometimes reach on residents pieces of land, which made RDB to shift residents and compensate them before the fencing proceeded.

As if that wasn’t enough, the akagera national park administration had to look for ways of how to extend water from Ihema Lake to outside parts surrounding the park so that cattle drink from the outside.

Apart from water problem, residents surrounding the park had their crops destroyed by the animals that could escape from the park not mentioning claiming their lives sometimes.

Residents are optimistic that once fencing is over, all the problems of animals destroying their crops will be over. The affected residents are from Ndego, Mwili and one part of Murundi sector that neighbor with Akagera national park.

Animals in the Akagera National Park

As the year draws to an end, reports show that poaching in Akagera National Park in Eastern Province and the Northern Province against the endangered mountain gorillas of Africa has increased.

The police urges the  public especially those living near these parks to find something tangible they could invest their time instead of engaging in poaching which is a crime and punishable by law.

“We caution people residing close to national parks and game reserves to avoid activities in the parks. We urge them to work with security organs in case wildlife wanders into communities so that they can quickly intervene and tranquilize them before they cause havoc,” said the police in a statement.

“We all know that man coexistence with wild life has proved to be uneasy given circumstance involved. Wild life creates havoc to neighborhoods near wildlife reserves and national parks where they invade residential areas destroying crops and injuring humans.

On the other side, humans also affect the wildlife through criminal activities such as poaching, an activity that wildlife conservationists campaign against.”

A good example can be found at the Akagera National Park where several cases of wildlife invading residential areas have been reported. Likewise human activity such as grazing in the national park, poaching have been reported to destabilize conservation initiatives.

Yet it is imperative that both humans and wildlife to co-exist without any causing harm to each other.

This year, RDB went as far as putting in place an electric fence to keep the wildlife from wandering into communities that neighbor national parks. The move will keep away buffaloes, elephants and crocodiles that have been causing trouble to communities close to the National Parks.

Police says that wildlife conservation is important for environmental reasons as well as economical ones. Wildlife significantly contributes to the economy given the ever increasing number of tourists visiting the country.

According to article 417 of the new penal code which stipulates that any person, who poaches, sells, injures or kills a gorilla or any other protected endangered animal species shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of more than five to ten years and a fine of five Rwf 500, 000 to Rwf 5 million.

Abaturiye Pariki y’iguhugu ya Nyungwe barakangurirwa kugira uruhare rugaragara mu kuyibungabunga ndetse n’ibiyibonekamo,ba rushimusi n’abandi bose bagifite inyota yo kuyangiza na  bo bakaba bagirwa inama yo kubicikaho kuko ubu hafashwe ingamba zihamye zashobora kubagiraho ingaruka zikomeye. Ubu butumwa bwatanzwe n’ubuyobozi bw’iyo pariki nyuma yo gusura bimwe mu bice byayo byangiritse ku bwo kuhacukura amabuye y’agaciro ya Zahabu.

Ni nyuma y’urugendo rurerure rwamaze amasaha abarirwa mu icumi n’amaguru bazunguruka iyo Pariki y’Igihugu ya Nyungwe kuwa 19/12/2012,hasurwa ibice bimwe na bimwe byagiye byibasirwa n’abacukuzi b’amabuye y’agaro arimo na zahabu,igikorwa cyagiye kigira ingaruka  ku biti kimeza bigize iyo pariki ndetse n’imigezi iyiturukamo nk’uwa   Tangaro ,uru rugendo rutari rworoshye,rukaba rwari mu rwego kugaragariza abafatanyabikorwa barimo n’ab’inzego z’umutekano ubwo bugizi bwa nabi bityo ngo habe hafatirwa hamwe ingamba zihamye zo guhashya abo babigiramo uruhare,nk’uko  Bwana NZAMUYE Patrce,ushinzwe umutekano w’iyo pariki yabitangaje.

Uretse ubwo bucukuzi bw’amabuye y’agaciro butemewe bugira ingaruka zikomeye   kuri iyo Pariki y’Igihugu ya Nyungwe,mu bindi byatunzewe agatoki mu biyibasira ni inkongi z’umuriro za hato na hato  ndetse n’abahigi ngo batangiye no kwibasira zimwe mu nyamanswa ziyibonekamo zikunzwe nab a mukereraugendo zo mu bwoko bw’inguge,ibi bikaba ngo  byo bitari bisanzwe,aha hakaba hanavuzwe ku bugizi bwa nabi bw’abo babikora,bahereye ku rugero rw’umwe mu bayirinda uherutse gutemagunwa na  bo ,ubwo yari mu kazi ubu akaba akiriye kwa muganga.Bwana RUGERINYANGE Louis umuyobozi wa Pariki ya Nyungwe aha mu butumwa bwe yashimangiye ubufatanye bw’inzego zose mu kurinda iyi pariki ku bw’uko ari umutungo w’igihugu winjiza amadevize,ndetse ikangira akamaro muri rusange ku baturarwanda bose,gashingiye ahanini ku  bidukikije n’urusobe rw’ibinyabuzima.

Ubu bufatanye kandi bwongeye gushimangirwa n’intumwa zari zaturutse mu gihugu cy’u Burundi,na  cyo gihana imbibe n’iyo pariki binyuze mu Kibira,hagaragazwa ko abo bayangiza  bajya bihisha muri ibyo bihugu byombi. MUHAMEDI Feruzi ayobora Ikigo c’Igihugu Gishinzwe kurengera ibidukikije mu Burundi. Ahibasiwe cyane hasuwe hangijwe n’abacukuzi b’amabuye  y’agaciro muri Pariki y’Igihugu ya Nyungwe  ni ahitwa Uwurukoko,akagari ka Rasano,umurenge wa Bweyeye akarere ka Rusizi, agace gaherereye mu ishyamba rwagati. Umuryango utera inkunga ibikorwa byo kubungabunga iyo pariki  ya Nyungwe W.C.S ukaba wari witabiriye urwo rugendo.

For the first time American couple Joe Mc Donald and his wife Mary Ann Mc Donald stepped on Rwandan soil with intension to visit the famous Rwandan Mountain Gorillas. The trip left a lasting memory and enthusiasm that the set a target of visiting Rwanda for 75 more times.

After twelve years of visiting Rwanda, spending from the savings and bringing along some of the friends to witness the beauty of the country of a thousand hills, the couple finally met their goal this December 3, 2012, on their 75^th trip to the Virunga mountain gorillas in Kinigi sector, Musanze district in the northern province of Rwanda.

The couple didn’t only meet their goal but also become the first group of foreign vistors to visit the gorillas more times, spend more money (estimated at $1million- Rwf640.000.000) and to a larger extent, they couple has always brought some friends along with them to have a similar experience.

Now in the late 60, Joe Mc Donald and his wife Mary Ann Mc Donald, residents of the state of Pennsylvania , still feel strong and energized for having met their goal in life and feel relatively connected to the people of Rwanda as the second home.

During their trips to Rwanda, the couple also has been collecting photos of Gorillas for their company- Mc Donald wildlife Photography. The couople says that they have chosen Rwanda among all African countries because they have always felt secure and welcomed at all times.

A research report codenamed “‘Global States of Mind’ released by Gallup on October 31, 2012, indicated that Rwanda ranked top of the list of African countries where citizens are least likely to feel safe according to a research report conducted and

Rwanda scored 92% followed by Georgia 91%, and Qatar 91%, while in Africa Niger was the second ranked country at 84 per cent.

As a way of appreciating their contribution to Rwanda economy- of which tourism remains the largest foreign earner, the Rwandan community in Musanze district threw a bash party for the couple.  Mc Donald and his wife Mary Ann were dressed in Rwandan traditional attire and joined by the community to celebrate this achievement.

Though in the late years, the couple said that they would not stop visiting their Rwandan home, and they would like to meet a new target of visiting Rwanda at least 100 times before they get very older. The couple says that they are motivated by the fact that they get new ideas each time the visit Rwanda.

Joe Mc Donald, 60, says: I find Rwanda and the people to be very welcoming and very peaceful. Even when we visit other countries in the region, we find it hard not to visit Rwanda, because we consider this as our second home”

The testimony of the American couple has however left a lasting impression for Rwandans who deal in the tourism sector. One, Paul Muvunyi, a manager at Mountain View Lodge- where the couple likes to stay, says that: This is a lesson that all service providers to always give clients the best customer care. This is because most of the clients will always be attracted to visit the country if they get value for their money spent while here”

The Virunga National Park official, Prosper Uwingeri hailed the American couple for their unfailing love for Rwanda and noted that such thanksgiving ceremonies are organized to recognize the contribution of pertinent tourists who have played a significant role in the community around the park.

The ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Musanze district, Winifrida Mpembyemungu who also reechoed the importance of the community in working hard to promote tourist activities in the country. She said that the example of Joe Mc Donald and his wife Mary Ann, was exemplary to the Rwandan community.

Guarantee fund officials have asked residents of Ndego sector in Kayonza district to write a letter demanding compensation over their property destroyed by animals in Akagera National Park.

The officials revealed this during the meeting that gathered residents of Ndego sector and Akagera park administration on November 20^th 2012.

Guarantee fund is subsidiary of Rwanda Development Fund (RDF) which manages several credit guarantee funds.

Guarantee fund is a facility put in place by the Rwandan government as an instrument to boost investment in different sectors. The aim of this guarantee is to promote financing to viable rural projects without enough collateral or regarded risky by banks.

Theogene Semugisha, civil registrar in Ndego sector revealed that compensation money has been available for two past months.

“Elephants destroyed crops, wounded some residents and killed others. These residents will be compensated of all the destruction ever since 2002,” Semugisha highlights.

Though residents are set to receive compensation, animals are still escaping and destroying more property.

An example is how elephants escaped from the Akagera national park on November 16^th 2012 and wondered in Isangano and Karambi cells in Ndego sector.

However, the elephants did not harm any human being but ate up residents crops.

Residents are celebrating over compensation but suggest the park’s fence be rebuilt and strengthened to prevent the problem.

Abakozi b’ikigo cy’igihugu cy’ingoboka barasaba abaturage bo mu murenge wa Ndego mu karere ka Kayonza kwandika basaba indishyi z’ibyo bangirijwe n’inyamaswa za Parike y’Akagera kugira ngo bishyurwe.

Babivugiye mu nama yabahuje n’abaturage bo mu murenge wa Ndego n’ubuyobozi bwa Parike y’Akagrera tariki 20/11/2012. Babwiye abo baturage ko hashize amezi agera kuri abiri amafaranga yo kwishyura abangirijwe n’inyamaswa za Parike abonetse nk’uko bivugwa na Semugisha Theogene ushinzwe irangamimerere mu murenge wa Ndego.

Mu byagiye byangijwe n’inyamaswa za Parike harimo imyaka y’abaturage, abantu izo nyamaswa zakomerekeje ndetse n’abo zishe. Abo bose ni bo bazishyurwa utwabo uhereye ku byangijwe kuva mu mwaka wa 2002 nk’uko Semugisha akomeza abivuga.

N’ubwo hagezweho gahunda yo kwishyura ibyo inyamaswa za Prike y’Akagera zangije, izo nyamaswa ziracyasohoka muri Parike zikajya kwangiriza abaturage. Tariki 16/11/2012, inzovu zasohotse muri Parike y’Akagera zijya mu kagari k’Isangano n’aka Karambi mu murenge wa Ndego.

Cyakora ngo nta baturage zahutaje, ariko zonnye imyaka y’abaturage. Abaturage bo muri uwo murenge bavuga ko bishimiye kuba bagiye kwishyurwa ibya bo byangijwe n’inyamaswa za Parike y’Akagera. Gusa banavuga ko uruzitiro rwa Parike y’Akagera rukwiye kubakwa rugakomezwa kuko “n’ubwo parike yatangiye kuzitirwa zimwe mu nyamaswa zigisohoka muri Parike zikajya mu baturage”

Through the Nyungwe Nziza Project, conservationists want to make it easier to visit the Park (courtesy photo)

Nziza Project, located in Rwanda’s Nyungwe forest has been named winner of the British Guild of Travel Writers’ top Globe Award (BGTW), at the Guild’s prestigious annual awards dinner in London’s Savoy Hotel on the night of November 04.

Sited in south-west, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) project was praised for harmonising tourism, wildlife, environmental and agrarian development in one of Africa’s last surviving patches of primeval pre-Ice Age rainforests. The project was described as one of the world’s richest and most diverse eco-systems and home to 25 percent of all of Africa’s primates.

In presenting the award, Guild Chair Roger Bray said: “Nyungwe Nziza is a model tourism project for developing countries whose benefits will long outlast this or subsequent governments.”

The Nyungwe project also came first in the awards’ Wider World category where the two runners up were central Georgia’s Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, nominated by Peter Lynch, and San Antonio, Texas’s Morgan’s Wonderland, nominated by Mary Moore Mason.

The former project, sited in the largest true wilderness area in continental Europe, has opened up accommodation, bridges and foot, bike and horseback trails to the public in the last few years, and the latter project is the world’s first theme park designed specifically for physically and mentally disabled people.

Other major awards –all given to tourism projects completed in the past three years – went to Greenwich’s Cutty Sark Restoration and to France’s Loire à Vélo cycle trail.

The BGTW also presented travel writing and photography awards, selected by an outside jury, to its own members during the evening, which was attended by some 300 top travel industry and media representatives. It was sponsored by the city of Las Vegas, which presented an array of glittering entertainment.

The runners up were Glasgow’s Riverside Transport Museum, nominated by David Prest, and Edinburgh’s Extended and Improved Museum of Scotland., nominated by Paul Wade. The former is an outstanding collection of vintage cars, ships and boats set in a bold Zaheer Habib-designed building and the latter, the UK’s most visited attraction outside London, has integrated two adjacent museums into one, adding 16 new galleries and displaying 8,000 objects for the first time.

The third category – for the best new European tourism attraction – was nominated by Gillian Thornton and honoured the completion of the safe, 800km Loire à Vélo cycle trail from Nevers to the Atlantic after 10 years of work by two French regions and six départements.

The runners up were France’s totally revamped Toulouse Lautrec Museum, set in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Albi, and the Museum aan de Strom (Museum of the River) in Antwerp, Belgium. Nominated by Kathy Arnold, the first attraction contains the world’s largest collection – some 1,000 paintings – by world-renowned artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The second attraction, nominated by Stuart Forster and housing some 450,000 historical artefacts and works of art, has helped regenerate what had been the abandoned docklands north of central Antwerp.

Ubuyobozi bwa Parike y’Akagera burasaba inzego zose gufatanya mu rwego rwo guhangana na ba rushimusi  bamaze iminsi bayogoza iyo Parike. Ba rushimusi bibasira iyo parike baba bashaka igiti cyitwa Kabaruka n’icyitwa Umushikiri, ubusanzwe bifite isoko mu gihugu cy’Ubugande kuko ngo byaba bikorwamo imibavu.

Cyakora hari na ba rushimusi baba bagamije guhiga no kwica inyamaswa za Parike nk’uko bivugwa na Mutangana Eugene ukora muri iyo Parike.

Ubuyobozi bwa Parike y’Akagera butangaza ko muri iyi minsi ba rushimusi barushaho kwiyongera ku buryo buteye inkeke. Tariki 31/10/2012, abashinzwe kurinda Parike y’Akagera bataye muri yombi abantu barindwi kandi bafatanwa ibiti bari bamaze gutema muri iyo Parike. Abo bariyongera ku bandi babiri bafashwe tariki 25/10/2012 bafatiwe mu mukwabo wa polisi, na bo bakaba barafatanwe impu z’inyamaswa zo muri parike y’Akagera.

Uretse ba rushimusi bibasira ibiti n’inyamaswa za Parike, hari abaturage bajya kurangura ikiyobyabwenge cya Kanyanga mu gihugu cya Uganda bakanyura muri Parike bihisha inzego z’ubuyobozi.

Inyamaswa za Parike zajyaga ziva muri Parike zikajya konera abaturage, bamwe zikanabahutaza. Ibyo byatumye iyo Parike izitirwa kugira ngo inyamaswa za yo zitandukanywe n’abaturage. Gusa mu gihe uruzitiro rutaranuzura neza, ngo hari hari ba rushimusi batangiye kurwangiza bakata Senyenge za rwo kugira ngo babone uko binjira muri Parike.

Parike y’Akagera ni imwe mu maparike yinjiriza u Rwanda amadovize menshi. Mu gihe abo ba rushimusi batahashywa burundu, ngo bishobora guteza leta igihombo kandi bikanagira ingaruka ku banyarwanda bose, kuko bamwe muri ba mukerarugendo bashobora kureka gusura Parike.