Latest revision as of 02:31, 22 July 2024

East Africa > Rwanda > Volcanoes National Park

Summary

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). In 1929, the site was created, initially named Albert national park, and it was run by the Belgian Colonial Authorities (Volcanoes National Park). In the early 1960s, the park was divided as Rwanda and Congo became independent, and by the end of the 1960s, the park was almost half of its original size. In 1967, primatologist Dian Fossey, who had been doing research on mountain gorillas in Congo, fled from insecurity and established her research base between Visoke and Karisimbi volcanoes; later on it would be known as the Karisoke research center. She led conservation campaigns and fought against poaching in the area until her murder in 1985 (Volcanoes National Park).

Table 1. Basic site information for Volcanoes National Park

Area	160 km²
Coordinates	-1.452661 S, 29.521122 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest,subtropical/tropical high altitude grassland, Bogs, marshes, swamps, fens, peatlands, rocky areas (e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks)

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 in 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 analysis of non-invasively collected samples and two capture–mark–recapture estimates	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 in 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)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity unknown	Illegal wood and bamboo harvesting (BirdLife International 2021).	Ongoing (2021)
6. Human intrusion & 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 options		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 in Volcanoes National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	Not reported
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	8.23. 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)
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site has been a national park since 1925 (AWF n.d.)	Ongoing (2021)
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	13.4. 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

Challenge	Source
Not reported

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 6. Ape behaviors reported 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

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

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

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 15/10/2021

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * 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 founded here, by American primatologist Dian Fossey.
+* The Karisoke Research Center was established in the park by American primatologist Dian Fossey.
 = Site characteristics = <!-- A paragraph summary of physical and geographic aspects of the site, and a table of key information -->

Difference between revisions of "Volcanoes National Park"