Facts About Nyungwe National Park
Facts About Nyungwe National Park : Facts About Nyungwe National Park; Nyungwe National Park is renowned as a place of its uniqueness which is less spotted elsewhere in East Africa like the Canopy walk and beautiful canopy green forest as well as cool weather for your perfect visit. However, the park lies in the southwestern region of Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, also next to the Kibira National Park to the south and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
Nyungwe National Park has the best preserved montane rainforest in Africa, that is located in the watershed between the basin of the river Congo to the west and the basin of the river Nile to the east. Yet even, to the east side of the Nyungwe forest comes also one of the branches of the Nile sources.
More fact, the park was created as a national park in 2004 and covers a total area which estimates 1,019square kilometers of rainforest, bamboo, grassland, swamps and bogs. Despite that, in late 2020, the Rwanda Development Board signed an agreement with African parks to assume management of Nyungwe National Park for numbery of years. Currently, Nyungwe National Park has been added to UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nyungwe forest is home to biodiversity of animal species thus making it a priority for conservation in Africa. Well, the forest is found in a region in which many large-scale biogeographical zones meet and the variety of terrestrial biomes provides a stunning span of microhabitats for different species of plants and animal species.
The park boasts with over 13 primate species,275 bird species ,1068 plant species ,85 mammal species ,32 amphibian and 38 reptile species. Many of these animals can only be found in the Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion in Africa. More so, the number of endemic species can also be viewed in the Albertine Rift Mountains that has been surveyed. These forest raises its maximum altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, due to the presence of Chimpanzees and Angola colobus, the latter now extinct in Angola for the intense hunt to which they were subjected.
Primate species to be spotted during your safari to Nyungwe National Park including; Common chimpanzee, Ruwenzori colobus, L’hoest’s monkey, Silver monkey, Golden Monkey, Hamlyn’s monkey, Red-tailed monkey, Dent’s Mona monkey, Vervet monkey, Olive baboon, Grey –cheeked mangabey among others.
Historical facts, Nyungwe Forest Reserve was created in 1933 by the Belgian colonial government. Then, in the 1920s the colonial government became concerned about the accelerating conversion of forest to pasture. The laws governing Rwanda’s forest reserve banned the clearing forests for agriculture, but maintained community rights to cut and collect firewood. Although, enforcement was lax and local people continued to use the forest for hunting, honey collection, subsistence farming, woodcutting and gold mining.
Fortunately, Rwanda became independent in in1962 and by that time the country’s forest reserves were managed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sadly, from 1958 to 1973, Nyungwe forest reduced over 150 square kilometers due to fires, hunting of animals and small-scale agriculture. Then, in 1966 elephants increased in the hundreds in Nyungwe. Later on 1984, Nyungwe was divided into areas that allows sustainable use and harvesting of timber. Regarding to its history, the government of Rwanda developed a plan for a buffer zone that is still seen till today.
In 2005, the Rwanda Government made Nyungwe an official National Park, thus providing protection to the park.
Activities to do while in Nyungwe National Park;
Nyungwe National Park has got different activities that attracts many visitors from different races of the world including; Birding, Guided Nature trail hiking, Canopy walk, Tropical waterfall, Primates trekking, and camping tour.
Lastly, never visit Rwanda Safaris without visiting Nyungwe National Park which is renowned as the oldest conserved tropical rainforest in Africa, which accommodated about 13 primate’s species with a world’s largest population of 400 monkeys and chimpanzees that are 25% of Africa’s population.
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