Achievements

Members of Forest of Hope have more than 15 years of experience in conserving the Gishwati Forest of The Gishwati Mukura National Park. Our current activities focus on active community forest protection, community outreach and environmental education, improving local livelihoods through income generation and capacity building, eco-tourism, and facilitating research on the Gishwati Forest ecosystem.

Forest of Hope,s notable achievements:

Conservation:
– In 2015, the government of Rwanda decided to upgrade the status of Gishwati and the close Mukura Forest reserve from Forest Reserve to National Park, declaring the Gishwati-Mukura National Park in February 2016.
– In 2020, the Gishwati-Mukura Landscape was officially designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
– The size of the forest cover increased from 886 to 1,570 hectares between 2008 and 2016.
– Illegal activities within the National Park boundaries decreased drastically from until the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) took over the management of the Gishwati-Mukura National Park (October 2019).
– The local chimpanzee population has grown and is currently estimated to be 36 individuals.

Community engagement:
– Local awareness about the importance of conserving the forest and the environment have increased. Our results of the evaluation of local people attitude towards the Gishwati forest biodiversity conservation raised from 27% to 81% between 2008 to 2019.
– 13 school eco-clubs have been established.
– Establish a small library that students and teachers from nearby secondary and primary schools regularly visit for readings and organize children,s joint reading exercises devoted to environmental matters.
– 10 local cooperatives (beekeeping, handcraft products, dance groups, and local farmers, among others) have been supported in developing cooperative management skills, improving the quality of their products, and connecting with national markets.
– 3 community groups have been supported in developing community-based tourism initiatives.
– 17 permanent jobs are created for local people as Forest of Hope employs: 1 coordinator, 1 accountant, 11 trackers, 1 agronomist, 1 cleaner and 2 night guard.

Eco-tourism:
– Construction of the Forest of Hope Guest House and Camp Site with the capacity of hosting four visitors in two en-suite rooms and eight visitors camping

Research:
– The number of visitors to Gishwati Forest are increasing day to day.
– 3 new trails have been created to offer multiple forest experiences to our visitors.
– 4 different community projects can be visited by our guests