East Africa > Rwanda > Nyungwe Forest National Park

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Summary

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Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are present in Nyungwe Forest National Park.
The population size is unknown.
The population trend is unknown.
The site has a total size of 1,019 km².
Key threats to chimpanzees are illegal mining and hunting, and fires.
Conservation activities have focused on running ecotourism projects.

Site characteristics

Nyungwe Forest National Park comprises 1,019 km² of evergreen mountainous rainforest in the southwest of Rwanda, situated between Lake Kivu to the north and Kibira National Park in Burundi to the south (BirdLife International 2020). Established in 2004, the park has helped boost the tourism industry Rwanda. The park is well known for chimpanzee trekking and has two habituated chimpanzee groups (Nyungwe Forest National Park). Nyungwe is divided by a north-south line of mountains that reach 2,900 m and which form part of the Congo–Nile watershed (BirdLife International 2020). With at least 275 bird species, the park is a designated Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2020). In addition to chimpanzees, other primate species occurring at the site include Ruwenzori colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii), L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l’hoesti), Hamlyn's monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni), golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti), and red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius). Red-tailed monkeys, known to only occur at Nyungwe in Rwanda, are nearly locally extinct due to logging of lower-altitude forests (BirdLife International 2020). The park is also home to several Albertine Rift endemics (BirdLife International 2020).

Table 1. Basic site information for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Species	'Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
Area	1,019 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -2.508690 , Lon: 29.284232
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Two habituated communities reside in the park; the Mayebe community (50–60 individuals) and the Cyamudongo community (35–40 individuals; Moore et al. 2018).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii							Unknown

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Evidence of poaching (Plumptre et al. 2002).	Ongoing (2002)
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Present (unknown severity)	Evidence of gold mining (Plumptre et al. 2002).	Ongoing (2002)
7 Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	Present (unknown severity)	Fires often caused by people entering the forest to smoke bees from wild hives to obtain honey (Plumptre et al. 2002).	Ongoing (2002)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site was declared a National Park in 2004.	Ongoing
6 Species management	6.1 Habituate primates to human presence to reduce stress from tourists/researchers	Chimpanzee trekking, with habituated groups (Nyungwe Forest National Park).	Ongoing
8 Permanent presence	8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	The site is a major tourist attraction and several activities are offered, e.g., chimpanzee and colobus monkey trekking, canopy walks, safari tours (Nyungwe Forest National Park).	Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Research activities

Valuing visitor services and access to protected areas: The case of Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Nyungwe Forest National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

Exposure to climate change impacts

External links

African Parks Nyungwe Forest National Park

Nyungwe Forest National Park

WCS Rwanda

Relevant datasets

References

BirdLife International (2020) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Nyungwe National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 09/12/2020.

Andrew J. Plumptre, Michel Masozera, Peter J. Fashing, Alastair McNeilage, Corneille Ewango, Beth A. Kaplin, and Innocent Liengola. (2002). Biodiversity Surveys of the Nyungwe Forest Reserve In S.W. Rwanda. WCS Working Papers No 18. Available for download from http://www.wcs.org/science/

Moore, JF, Mulindahabi, F, Gatorano, G, et al. (2018). Shifting through the forest: Home range, movement patterns, and diet of the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda. Am J Primatol, 80:e22897. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22897

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