Nyungwe National Park, situated in Rwanda’s Southern and Western Province, was officially designated as a natural World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee. It is the first site in Rwanda to be featured on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The decision was made on Tuesday, September 19, during a session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee taking place in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The inscription of Nyungwe National Park serves as a vital step in ensuring its long-term conservation, preserving its natural heritage for future generations, and promoting sustainable development for neighbouring communities.
“This serial property represents an important area for rainforest conservation in Central Africa. The property is home to intact forests and peat bogs, moors, thickets and grasslands, providing habitats to a highly diverse flora and fauna.
The Park also contains the most significant natural habitats for a number of species found nowhere else in the world, including the globally threatened Eastern Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti) and the Critically Endangered Hills Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hillorum)”. UNESCO said.
There are also 12 mammal and seven bird species that are globally threatened, and with 317 species of birds recorded, Nyungwe National Park is one of the most important sites for bird conservation in Africa.
Established as a natural reserve in 1933, the forest became a national park in 2005 in a bid by the Government to bolster its protection and safeguard the thousands of endangered and endemic species it harbours.
