One of the world's great centers of primate diversity is now a national park, created in one of Africa's smallest and most densely populated nations. With the help of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the government of Rwanda has recently established Nyungwe National Park, a rich landscape that contains 13 different types of primate, along with 260 bird species, and more than 260 species of trees and shrubs.

"This is an important achievement for Rwanda and for conservation in Africa," said Michel Masozera, country director for WCS's Rwanda program. "Nyungwe National Park will safeguard one of Rwanda's most valuable assets--its wildlife--for future generations."

At 970 square kilometers in size, the park is recognized as one of the richest mountain primate communities in Africa, home to chimpanzees, l'hoest's monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and others. The rare owl-faced guenon inhabits the bamboo forest in the southern portion of the park, and the Angolan black-and-white colobus monkey congregates in huge groups of up to 400 individuals, one of the great spectacles of Africa's forests. Nyungwe and neighboring Kibira National Park in Burundi together form the largest block of rain forest in eastern Africa.

Nyungwe was first created as a forest reserve in 1933, in response to the rapid clearing of forests for farmland in the 1920s. However, surrounding communities continued activities such as wood cutting, hunting, small-scale agriculture and mining for gold within the reserve. In 1984, WCS conservationists Drs. Amy Vedder and Bill Weber, both of whom worked on the ecology and conservation of Rwanda's world-famous mountain gorillas in Parc National des Volcans, began working in Nyungwe, conducting primate surveys and recommending management strategies for the forests. WCS continues to work with the Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parcs Nationaux (ORTPN) with respect to ecotourism development, ranger-based monitoring, and community
'"/>

Contact: John Delaney
jdelaney@wcs.org
718-220-3275
Wildlife Conservation Society
9-Mar-2004

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Rutgers anthropologist, Fossey Fund official, announces plan to save Rwandas mountain gorillas
2. Gorillas in the bits: remote sensing boosts efforts to protect mountain gorillas & rebuild Rwandas economy
3. New England forests at greater risk from air pollution
4. Warmer weather, human disturbances interact to change forests
5. Deserts and rainforests are equally productive during drought
6. Undisturbed Amazonian forests are changing, say scientists
7. Duke open-air experiment results could deflate hopes that forests can alleviate global warming
8. Satellites spy deaths in rain forests (Clark et al.)
9. Professor uses satellites to protect Amazon forests, global climate
10. Squirrel invasion sows seeds of change for future forests
11. UGA researchers track greenhouse gases in forests