Akagera National Park-Rwanda

A century ago, there were no guidelines for creating a national park, because nothing like them existed anywhere in the world. It was generally agreed that the pristine nature of the United States should be preserved for posterity, as well as for conservation reasons – but how? 

Yellowstone was the first national park ever to exist, designated in 1872. Its status sparked an idea that spread across the country and then across the world. National parks were spaces that human kind deemed precious and worth protecting. Yosemite, Mount Rainier, Wind Cave and Mesa Verde all gained status too, until eventually, in 1916, the National Parks System was created – one entity charged with overseeing all aspects of these wildernesses.

                                      

                                                                 RWANDA

                         Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park is located in the north east of Rwanda along the border with Tanzania. After the Genocide, refugees returning to Rwanda  were still battling for their own survival and turned to the forests for timber, wildlife for protein and the wild savannahs for their livestock. Lions were hunted to local extinction, rhinos disappeared, and the park’s wildlife was displaced by tens of thousands of long-horned cattle. Biodiversity was practically lost, and with it so was employment and tourism. The park’s value was diminished to the point of not existing at all. 

In 2010, African Parks assumed management of Akagera in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), shifting the park's trajectory from one of oblivion to prosperity and hope.

It is named after the Akagera River that flows along its eastern boundary and feeds into a labyrinth of lakes of which the largest is Lake Ihema. The forest fringed lakes, papyrus swamps, savannah plains and rolling highlands combine to make Akagera amongst the most scenic of reserves anywhere in Africa. It has exceptional levels of biodiversity and forms the largest protected wetland in central Africa.

With poaching essentially halted, the park’s key wildlife populations have continued to rise.

                                              
                                                                Highlights

• In 2017, 18 Eastern black rhinoceros were reintroduced to Akagera bringing the species back to the park, and the country of Rwanda after a 10-year absence
• Lions were reintroduced in 2015 after they were hunted out in the 1990s, and the population doubled in the first year with the birth of eleven cubs. Two additional males were translocated from South Africa to Akagera in 2017 to increase the population’s genetic diversity
• We overhauled law enforcement and significantly reduced poaching to an all time low for the park in seven years, with only two people arrested for poaching and six snares were removed in 2017
• A counter-poaching canine unit was trained and deployed in 2015 to help secure the park
• A 120 km solar powered predator-proof fence was constructed and significantly reduced human-wildlife conflict situations
• More than 1,300 school children visit Akagera each year along with teachers as part of the environmental education programme
• Tourism revenue has increased by more than 300 percent from US$350,000 in 2010 to US$1.6M in 2017 making Akagera 75% self-financing
• More than 36,000 tourists visited Akagera in 2017, half of whom were Rwandan nationals
• Ruzizi Tented Lodge and Karenge Bush Camp are award-winning lodging options for visitors which helps support the park

Due to its wide variety of habitats, Akagera is an important ornithological site with nearly 500 bird species. The rare and elusive shoebill shares the papyrus with other rarities such as the exquisite papyrus gonolek and countless other water birds that inhabit the wetlands in large numbers.

Top spots: You’re virtually guaranteed to see alligators, along with hypos, turtles and much more.