Community projects around Volcanoes National Park
Looking for community projects around Volcanoes National Park? Rwanda is one of the best countries offering beautiful and magnificent travel scenery, making it one of the most popular countries. The country is bordered by other countries, including Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda’s tourism strength lies in gorillas and wildlife parks, including the beautiful scenery of Lake Kivu. The gorillas in Rwanda are found in Volcanoes National Park. However, they are also found in other neighboring countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Other than the gorillas, the Rwanda culture is extremely outstanding and it is practiced by the people or local community across the whole country, but some community projects are being carried out near the volcanoes in the national park where the gorillas are found. Mountain gorillas can only be found in three countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Volcanoes National Park is the only place where you may view Rwandan gorillas. The park is only a two-hour drive from Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.
The Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is the most visible community-based tourist project, showcasing Rwanda’s distinctive history and culture. The word Iby’Iwacu means “treasure of our home” or “our history,” and the hamlet is primarily designed to highlight national treasures, particularly cultural riches. The village is roughly 20 minutes by car from Musanze in the Nyabigoma district, near the Volcanoes National Park. The village depicts many cultural features of Rwandans from the three major ethnic groups: Twa (Batwa), Hutu, and Tutsi.
The cultural village was created to balance conservation and community needs, not just to provide a source of income for the villages surrounding the park, but also to conserve a culture that has been lost.
Rwanda is acknowledged as a safe tourist destination and is today regarded as one of the top tourist attractions, owing to efforts to repair the damage done by the 1994 genocide. One of the events held to better the lives of local communities living around the national park is the gorilla naming ceremony. Dian Fossey was the first conservationist to research gorillas in the park. Her work is still being done through the nonprofit she founded.
To secure cash and food, people in the area were continuously fighting for resources, shooting animals, and destroying areas of their environment. Dian was compelled to establish a foundation to help communities produce revenue and avoid poaching because of a desire to improve their well-being. The urge to visit Volcanoes National Park has grown as a result of community tourism. Every year, almost 20,000 people visit the park.
Since 2005, the Rwandan government has implemented a sharing plan in which 5% of the proceeds from gorilla trekking are given to the community, resulting in numerous social and economic benefits. Since 2005, the Rwandan government has implemented a plan in which 5% of the proceeds from gorilla trekking are remitted to the community.
Another advantage of community tourism is the Ibyiwaku Cultural Village. People come to this community to learn about Rwandan cuisine, music, dance, clothing code, and history. People have historically coexisted with gorillas and other wildlife, though the Batwa pygmies who lived in the Virunga rainforest were relocated when Volcanoes National Park and Nyungwe Forest National Park were established.
Rwanda’s marginalized Batwa Pygmies had lost their houses and were unable to engage in traditional activities such as hunting and fruit gathering. The Batwa are recuperating through agriculture, education, and social welfare thanks to gorilla tourism. The Gorilla Foundation seeks to preserve the Batwa people’s culture. Many people travel to Batwa villages to learn about their customs. Tourists can experience the Batwa way of life for a little cost by participating in activities such as hunting, medicinal plants, and dancing. The proceeds from these activities assist the Batwa’s welfare, which stimulates conservation efforts.
Community projects support the local community of local people in Rwanda
There is the Rwanda Indigenous Peoples Assistance Project, which began in 2001 to help the Batwa people who had been evicted from Rwanda’s forests and had lost their land. The project, carried out in collaboration with the Organization of African Indigenous Peoples and Minorities, aims to secure agricultural land for the Batwa, train them in better farming techniques, and provide them with basic necessities.
The initiative has upgraded Batwa homes and secured over 30 hectares of agricultural land. Training in ideal farming techniques was provided to assist the Batwa in transitioning from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural civilization. The management of Volcanoes National Park assisted in organizing and training communities to come up with solutions. The management of Volcanoes National Park assisted in organizing and training locals to develop new goods to capitalize on tourism resources. These products have been fully produced and promoted for tourist purchase, and they are entirely administered by the communities. The previously mentioned Ibyiwak Cultural Village is a perfect example of this.
