Gishwati-Mukura National Park

Created in 2015, Gishwati – Mukura National Park is one of the newly established parks in Rwanda, created after the government passing the law in an effort to protect the chimpanzees found in this area. It is the smallest park in Rwanda with a total area of 34 square kilometers combining Gishwati Forest and Mukura Forest.

The forest sit on the ridge which divides the Congo and Nile water catchment areas, along the incredibly biodiverse Albertine Rift in the west of Rwanda. It is made up of 60 species of tree, including indigenous hardwoods and bamboo.

Gishwati-Makura National Park is located in the western part of Rwanda, in districts of Rutsiro and Ngororero.

The Gishwati and Mukura Forests

Gishwati Forest is the larger of the two forests that now make up what is called the Gishwati-Mukura National Park. Gishwati was part of a greater forest system that spreads out all the way from Nyunger Forest to those in Uganda and Central Africa including Congo. Gishwati Forest connected these two vast forests to Nyungwe Forest for thousands of year before human activity left it isolated.

Mukura Forest on the other hand is smaller than Gishwati. Encroachment on the forest land has left with only 1,200 hectares of forest cover from an original 2,000. The forest has no chimpanzees, but the creation of the forest corridor to the Gishwati and Nyungwe will allow the primates in if these ever choose too. The two forests were almost destroyed after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. A wave of people who had been displayed by the tragic event returned to the country and settled in the forests. The forest lost much of its vegetation cover through illegal logging, poaching and opening up of farmlands.

Even though the government of Rwanda took steps to stop the destruction as well shall see later, a new problem has emerged for Mukura Forest, sitting on large deposits of Coltan – a mineral used in making of cellphones, computers and other electronic devices.

Wildlife in Gishwati-Mukura National Park

Gishwati-Mukura National Park is home to several primates including chimpanzees, golden monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, olive baboons and black and white colobus monkeys. There are also mammal species including buffaloes among others.

Birdlife in Gishwati-Mukura National Park

Gishwati- Mukura National Park is one of the Important Birding Area in Rwanda with over 83 species recorded including 15 species that can only be found in the Albertine Rift like the Grey Crowned Crane, Martial Eagle, Mountain Yellow Warblers, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Red-throated Alethe, Regal Sunbird, Ruwenzori Batis, Ruwenzori Turaco, Weaver birds, Wood hoopoes, Strange weavers and the Stripe-breasted Tit among others.