Rwanda

África

Capital: KigaliJune to September

176

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Rwanda, the country of a thousand hills, is small, mountainous and densely populated, and has concentrated its wild nature in three very different great spaces. To the northwest, Volcanoes National Park protects the Rwandan slope of the Virunga chain, with bamboo and hagenia forest on the flanks of volcanoes above four thousand metres, home to the mountain gorillas that Dian Fossey studied from 1967. To the southwest, Nyungwe keeps one of the oldest and most extensive montane rainforests in Africa, with thirteen primate species, chimpanzees and a walkway suspended above the canopy. To the east, Akagera combines savannah, lakes and papyrus in a very different landscape, where one of the most ambitious rewilding programmes on the continent has been completed.

The nature of Rwanda

National animal: No official national animal; the mountain gorilla is the country's natural emblem

Did you know?

The mountain gorilla is the only great ape in the world whose population is increasing. From some two hundred and fifty individuals counted in the 1980s it has passed a thousand, thanks to permanent patrolling, veterinary care in the field and tightly regulated tourism that returns income to the communities. In 2018 that growth allowed its threat category to be lowered from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Oriental ("tierra de las mil colinas", Rift Albertino)9 areas protegidas cubren aprox. 232.000 ha (9,11% del territorio); el plan nacional de uso de suelo 2020-2050 propone elevar esta cifra al 37,7% para cumplir metas internacionales

Climate

•Templado de montaña tropical, moderado por la altitud (clima subecuatorial de altura)

Main biomes

•Bosque montano tropical (mayor bosque tropical de montaña de Africa, incluye bambu y marismas floridas abiertas)
•Sabana y humedales en el este
•Volcanes de los Virunga (oeste)
•Selva de montaña afromontana
•Bosque de bambú volcánico
•Sabana de acacias
•Humedal de papiro
•Lago tropical
•Pradera de altitud
•Bosque de galería

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral)

Flagship wildlife

•Gorila de montaña (Virunga)
•Mono dorado (Rift Albertino)
•Chimpance (Nyungwe)
•Antilopes de sabana en el Parque Akagera
•Colobo blanco y negro
•León africano
•Rinoceronte negro
•Elefante africano de sabana
•Cebra de llanura
•Sitatunga
•Grulla coronada cuelligrís
•Hipopótamo

Notable endemic species

•40% de las especies de mamiferos de toda Africa presentes en Ruanda (402 especies)
•1.061 especies de aves, 293 de reptiles y anfibios, y 5.793 especies de plantas superiores registradas pese al reducido tamaño del pais

Notable threatened species

•Gorila de montaña (En Peligro, poblacion en recuperacion gracias a decadas de proteccion transfronteriza)
•Chimpance (En Peligro Critico, aprox. 500 individuos remanentes en Ruanda)

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional de los Volcanes (gorila de montaña, parte del paisaje transfronterizo Gran Virunga con Uganda y RD Congo, 1,5 millones de ha)
•Parque Nacional Nyungwe (bosque montano, parte del complejo transfronterizo Nyungwe-Kibira con Burundi)
•Parque Nacional de Nyungwe
•Parque Nacional de Akagera
•Parque Nacional de Gishwati-Mukura
•Lago Kivu
•Bosque de Cyamudongo

Main conservation threats

•Presion demografica extrema (pais mas densamente poblado de Africa continental) sobre habitats naturales limitados
•Fragmentacion de corredores entre areas protegidas transfronterizas

Notable natural phenomena

•Ruanda ha ampliado el Parque Nacional de los Volcanes en aprox. 23% para mejorar el habitat del gorila de montaña, proyectando un aumento poblacional de 15-20% y una reduccion del 50% en la mortalidad infantil de la especie

Conservation

Akagera brought back lions in 2015, after two decades without them, and black rhinoceroses from 2017, in a restoration process managed with an international foundation. Population pressure on the land is the country's great environmental constraint.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Volcanoes National Park year-round for mountain gorillas. Nyungwe between June and September for chimpanzees and the canopy walkway. Akagera in the dry season for savannah wildlife.

Sources: rema.gov.rw - Biodiversity Rwanda | Interactive Country Fiches (UNEP-GRID) - Biodiversity Rwanda | BioDB.com - Rwanda | WorldAtlas - Ecological Regions of Rwanda

Savanna Rainforest Mountain Freshwater