Gishwati-Mukura National Park

Gishwati-Mukura

Rwanda’s fourth national park, Gishwati Mukura is made up of two separate forests – the larger Gishwati and small Mukura, forming a total of 34 square kilometers plus a buffer zone. The forests sit on the ridge which divides the Congo and Nile water catchment areas, along the incredibly biodiverse Albertine Rift in the west of the country. It is made up of 60 species of tree, including indigenous hardwoods and bamboo.

Gishwati is home to a group of 20 chimpanzees who live alongside golden monkeys, L’Hoest’s, and Blue Monkeys. Birds are well represented too, 232 species have been seen at Gishwati and 163 at Mukura, among them Albertine Rift Endemic species and forest specialists. Activities in the park are due to begin in 2019 and include a guided nature hike, guided chimp, and monkey tracking, bird watching, and a visit to the waterfalls.

Uniqueness

• The park is currently part of an ambitious landscape restoration program.
• The area was nearly depleted largely due to resettlement, illegal mining in the mineral-rich forest, and livestock farming.
• In the far north of Rwanda, Gishwati Forest once had a flourishing eco-system, extending all the way up to the Gishwati-Mukura National Park .
• This is a great success story for the conservationists who have been fighting for a long time to protect this strip on the Congo-Nile divide.