Rwanda's 'Forest of Hope' has a pristine heart

Des Moines, Iowa – March 30, 2009 – The forest is secure, and the chimpanzees are safe. Four eco-guards have been hired, outfitted and equipped, and they’re now monitoring activity in the Gishwati Forest, where Great Ape Trust is backing a reforestation project that will give greater range to an isolated group of 13 chimpanzees and reduce poverty’s threat to conservation by improving water quality, controlling floods, prompting ecotourism and enhancing local employment.

The deployment of the eco-guards is just one of the encouraging developments as the Gishwati Area Conservation Program – or the “forest of hope,” as the initiative is called – moves forward. Other recent developments include the establishment of field offices near the forest’s edge, scheduling of community engagement meetings and the discovery of a pristine section of forest rich in biodiversity.

“If this project is a forest of hope, this section of primary forest is its heart,” said Great Ape Trust’s Peter Clay, who recently returned to the United States from a two-week trip to Rwanda.

The Gishwati Forest was Rwanda’s second largest in the early 1900s, but was deforested in the 1980s by agricultural development and in the mid-1990s during the resettlement of people following Rwanda’s civil war and genocide. Human encroachment, deforestation, grazing and the introduction of small-scale farming resulted in extensive soil erosion, flooding, landslides and reduced water quality – as well as the isolation of 13 chimpanzees.

But within the three and a half square miles (9 square kilometers) of remaining natural forest is a core area that is largely undisturbed, said Clay, who trekked the area with Dr. Rebecca Chancellor, principal investigator of a chimpanzee behavioral ecology study for the Gishwati Area Conservation Program, and her research assistants.

“It’s diverse, dramatic and beautiful, and very encouraging,” Clay said. “In such a degraded forest, this is a treasure.”

The potential to document unique and rich biodiversity within the forest brings new urgency to the protection and restoration of Gishwati.  It also strengthens the idea that ecotourism can help bolster the local economy in Rwanda, according to Clay.

The primary forest area is distinguished by a large number of large trees, huge sections of tree ferns and fruit trees, snails, slugs, toads, frogs and numerous species of birds, including large raptors. Clay said he heard at least one monkey call during the trek, but wasn’t sure if it was made by a blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis), golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti) or mountain monkey (Cercopithecus l’hoesti), all species indigenous to Rwanda. Also discovered was a blue fungus or lichen on a small tree that may be a previously unknown life form.

Eco-guards an important link to law enforcement

During his stay in Rwanda, Clay presented the recently hired eco-guards with rain jackets and pants, ponchos, solar flashlights, GPS (global positioning system) units, tents, sleeping bags and watches – a $500 package for each. The items greatly increase the rangers’ comfort during equatorial Africa’s rainy seasons, which tend to run from February to May and October to December, as well as their safety and security. Funding limited the number of eco-guards hired to four – instead of six, as originally.

The eco-guards do not have enforcement power, but are in close contact with local law enforcement officials. Great Ape Trust Director of Conservation Dr. Benjamin Beck said the eco-guards are sensitive to the needs of the local population living near the forest and play an important role in the community engagement process – a key to the success of the Gishwati Area Conservation Program. One of the aims in the Gishwati program is to strike a balance between conservation and economic development.

“There are just no easy answers,” Beck said. “The people living near the forest are traditionally and culturally hunter-gatherers, and one of the biggest challenges is to treat them with sensitivity and come up with practical ways to help them.”

The eco-guards’ tents have been set up near the forest edge and are a visible reminder that activities in the forest are being monitored. “The tents are strategically located to discourage access to the forest,” Clay said.

A field station has also been established in a 3,000-square-foot building that previously served as a health center in the village of Kinihira, which borders the remaining forest. The field station provides a base of operations for Chancellor and her research staff, as well as living quarters for her and her husband. Before the field station was established, the researchers had to travel 90 minutes from their base in the city of Gisenyi  to reach the forest’s edge.

The field station also provides a place for community outreach meetings. “This will give us great access for outreach with local people,” Beck said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to become a positive influence for the people living around Gishwati, as well as being logistically functional for the field staff.

As part of the community engagement process, Gishwati Program Coordinator Madeleine Nyiratuza and her staff identified primary and secondary schools near the forest that might be interested in starting environmental clubs to help build awareness about the need to conserve the forest.

During his trip, Clay took part in a ceremonial tree planting on school grounds, a symbolic activity to show Great Ape Trust’s commitment to the Gishwati project and conservation. The ceremony included poetry readings, traditional Rwandan dances and the planting of dozens of donated mango and avocado seedlings. Clay said there might be opportunities for school partnerships between students in Iowa and Rwanda.