Volcanoes National Park

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Summary

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• Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are present in Volcanoes National Park.
• The gorilla population in the Virunga Massif, which includes Volcanoes National Park, has been estimated at 669 (CI: 623–759).
• The gorilla population trend is increasing.
• The site has a total size of 160 km².
• Key threats to gorillas are habitat encroachment, illegal hunting and logging.
• Conservation activities have focused on ecotourism and research activities.
• The Karisoke Research Center was established in the park by American primatologist Dian Fossey.

Site characteristics

Volcanoes National Park is located in northwestern Rwanda, bordering Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is contiguous with Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in DRC (BirdLife International 2021). The park is famous for containing five of the eight of the Virunga Massif: Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga, and Sabyinyo (AWF). The vegetation in the park is diverse, as it varies considerably with altitude, from montane forest, bamboo zones, montane bogs, subalpine vegetation, and Afro-alpine vegetation past 4,000 m consisting of heath and thicket grassland (BirdLife International 2021). The site holds a rich avifauna which includes many of the Albertine Rift endemics (BirdLife International 2021).

Table 1. Basic site information for Volcanoes National Park

Species	Gorilla beringei beringei
Area	160 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -1.452661 S , Lon: 29.521122 E
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest, Grassland, Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes), Rocky areas (inland cliffs, mountain peaks)
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The estimated population of mountain gorillas at the Virunga Massif, which includes Volcanoes National Park, was 669 (CI: 623–759) in 2016 (Granjon et al. 2020). The mountain gorilla population moves freely between protected areas in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Volcanoes National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Gorilla beringei beringei	2016	669 (CI: 623–759)			Virunga Massif	Genetic (dung/hair)	Granjon et al. 2020

Threats

Although human pressure is very high around the park, it is the best-protected park in Rwanda. Threats include demand for agricultural land, gorilla poaching, encroachment, illegal wood- and bamboo cutting, and feral dogs (BirdLife International 2021).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Volcanoes National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present, but threat severity unknown	Demand for agricultural land (BirdLife International 2021).	Ongoing (2021)
3 Energy production & mining		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity unknown	Gorilla poaching (BirdLife International 2021).	Ongoing (2021)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity unknown	Illegal wood and bamboo harvesting (BirdLife International 2021).	Ongoing (2021)
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
9 Pollution		Unknown
10 Geological events		Absent
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12 Other threat		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Conservation awareness campaigns have been conducted around the periphery of the park, aimed at promoting understanding of the park and creating support within the local population (BirdLife International 2021). In 2016, the park generated $16.4 million USD from park entry fees, supporting employment, community-based projects, livelihood development, social services, and infrastructure development (AWF).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Volcanoes National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
3 Species health	3.13 Implement a health programme for local communities	One Health Program by the Gorilla Doctors provides annual physicals, immunizations, referrals, eyeglasses, and health education programs to park employees and their families (Gorilla Doctors).		Ongoing (2020)
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site has been a national park since 1925 (AWF n.d.)		Ongoing (2021)
8 Permanent presence	8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Ecotourism at the park has brought economic opportunities for local people (AWF n.d.)		Ongoing (2021)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Volcanoes National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Volcanoes 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

Karisoke Research Centre, created by Diane Fossey, is among the oldest primate field research stations in Africa (BirdLife International 2021).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Volcanoes National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2016.1145228

African community and conservation foundation

African Wildlife Foundation - Volcanoes NP

References

BirdLife International (2021) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Volcans National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 15/10/2021.

Volcanoes National Park (n.d.). https://www.volcanoesnationalparkrwanda.com/

AWF (n.d.). Volcanoes National Park: a success story for Rwanda's communities and conservation.https://www.awf.org/blog/volcanoes-national-park-success-story-rwandas-communities-and-conservation

Granjon, A.-C., Robbins, M.M., Arinaitwe, J., Cranfield, M.R., Eckardt, W., Mburanumwe, I., Musana, A., Robbins, A.M., Roy, J., Sollmann, R., Vigilant, L. and Hickey, J.R. (2020), Estimating abundance and growth rates in a wild mountain gorilla population. Anim Conserv, 23: 455-465. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12559

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