Akagera National Park, Rwanda

The Akagera Management Company has been very successful in creating employment opportunities for local communities, and the 59 people employed in the park prior to 2010 have now increased to 257, of which all but three are Rwandan Nationals.

The Rwanda Development Board has established a scheme, in terms of which 5% of total revenue generated by its three national parks is devoted to revenue‐sharing with local communities. The communities surrounding Akagera receive 30% of these revenues. Park management receives project funding proposals from the surrounding districts, which are reviewed by established committees, and grants are allocated for programmes, such as social infrastructure (schools, health centres), local associations or small enterprises.

Community projects supported to date include a cassava processing plant, a water provision project, crop guarding initiatives and the construction of health centres, a dairy building and a Woman's Cultural Centre in the Gatsibo District. Park management also assisted with the construction of a milk collection centre in the Ndego sector where small scale farmers can assemble to sell their milk on location or have it transported to bigger centres of commerce. Regular environmental education and awareness sessions have also been implemented around Akagera since April 2010 to sensitise local communities to the importance of bio-diversity conservation.

in 2012, about 200 local people were employed through the year for construction work, maintaining firebreaks and roads, and removing exotic plant species. Salaries, purchase of local materials and local transport hire saw an injection of over US$260,000 into the local economy. Environmental education continued to be a major focus in 2012 and over 16,000 children participated in environmental education classes, of which 480 were taken on a tour of the park. Boreholes, solar surface water pumps and small dams were provided for communities at 12 different locations outside the park, as the erection of the fence has denied access to previous sources of water in the park.