Management of the Kigwena Natural Reseve

The project wants to improve the protection of the small and threatened forest of Kigwena Natural Reserve in Southwest Burundi at Lake Tanganyika, to render the various uses sustainably, and to help develop alternative sources of income for the surrounding population of poor farmers. To those ends, it wants to make qualitative and quantitative inventories of the biological riches of the forest and to identify the necessary conservation measures; to promote participative management techniques for watershed areas; and to introduce animals in the local family livelihood system. Activities include the sensibilisation of the population about the participatory approach, the definition of the rights and duties of every stakeholder party, the development of alternative sources of income around and in the reserve (apiculture, mushroom culture, goat breeding, etcetera) accompanied by the establishment of veterinary and agricultural centres, and the cultivation and distribution of indigenous tree species. A management plan will be drawn, based on participatory conservation measures and measures for sustainable use of the natural resources of the forest.

The project contributed to an increase in income by achieving the following: Production and planting of 200,000 indigenous and agro-forestry trees in Kigwena area and along the reserve; Training and to three bee-keeping groups and distribution of 115 improved beehives; Promotion of mushroom farming with 250 layers with a farming group; Support to six farming groups including women's groups; Establishment of a demonstration goat-rearing farm run by PROTEC. A reduction of bush-fires by 50% was achieved through sensitisation. Occurrences of illegal poaching and logging are now monitored and reported by the farming groups formed. The introduction of an in-kind community revolving fund consolidated social cohesion; this fund is based on a “pass-on the gift” system, whereby the first group of farmers that receive the in-kind goods (goats) agree to pas- on the offspring to the next batch of farmers, and so on. The NGO believes that thanks to the project approach, a base for the long term protection of the Kigwena Forest reserve has been established.