FHA has an office in Kinihira village, Rukaragata Cell, Kigeyo Sector, Rutsiro District, Western Province, Rwanda. The association has 53 members, and it employs 13 people: 1 Coordinator, 1 accountant, 2 research field assistants, 6 trackers, 1 nursery Agronomist, 1 cleaner and 1 night guard.

The overall decisions of FHA are made by the general assembly of the Association. FHA works in partnership with government institutions including the Rwanda Governance Board, Ministry of Environment (MoE), Rutsiro District, Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA), and the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA).

It also works with non-government institutions including Drake University, West Chester University and Wilderness Safaris Rwanda. Other partners include: Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (a joint initiative of Conservation International, l’Agence Française de Développement, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the and the World Bank); West Chester University; US Department of State through the Wildlife Conservation Society; Drake University; Rufford Foundation; International Primatological Society; GRASP-Ian Redmond; John Ball Zoo Wildlife Conservation Fund World Wide Fund for Nature/Sweden through International Gorilla Conservation Programme and British Ecological Society

At local level, FHA works with local farmers who have plots adjacent to the Gishwati Forest . The main collaboration is about mitigating crop raiding and reducing illegal activities within the forest (the most frequent is illegal cattle grazing).

FHA works with local farmers who own plots adjacent to the Gishwati forest to mitigate crop raiding and to reduce illegal activities within the forest. The most frequent illegal activity is illegal cattle grazing. FHA organizes meetings with farmers to discuss how they can reinforce fences around their ranches to prohibit cows’ infringement on the forest. FHA also makes advocacy for the farmers in the process of claiming for compensation of damages incurred by the park fauna. FHA is working with Drake University to test the best strategies to mitigate maize destruction by chimpanzees and monkeys around Gishwati Forest.

FHA supports the local community to develop and run alternative economic activities and projects such as beekeeping, handcrafts, etc., in the framework of “Community tourism development”. In this regards, FHA supports a union of three beekeeping cooperatives (UNICOAPIGI); a cooperative of traditional healers (COAGIRU); a traditional dance group (INDASHYIKIRWA); a women cooperative producing hand craft products (COOVARAKU) and a cooperative grouping local farmers who own plots adjacent to the Gishwati forest (JYAMBERE). The support provided consists of materials equipment, training, advice to increase production, marketing and basic tourism development.

FHA promotes the culture of environmental conservation starting from the grassroots level. In this framework, FHA supports 13 eco-clubs in schools to educate local community about the importance of the park and its biodiversity. Park visits, regular trainings and annual competitions on different themes are organized. FHA organizes regular meetings with local community to raise awareness and communicate different messages such us behaviors that may reduce forest fires during the dry season. This mainly takes place in the monthly Public community works “Umuganda”. Furthermore, FHA staff collaborate with local communities to search for possible sources of alternative livelihoods, discuss and help to address human-wildlife conflicts.

FHA maintains a small library that students and teachers from nearby secondary and primary schools regularly visit for readings and organizes children joint reading exercises devoted to environmental matters. In addition to contributing to basic reading practice, this is also a powerful way to spread the conservation messages into the community through youth education. More than 50 children gather at the FHA office and get informed about the environment and the usefulness of Gishwati forest biodiversity.