Contribution of Former Poachers for Wildlife Conservation in Rwanda Volcanoes National Park

Pacifique Uwayo,Abias Maniragaba,Alexandre Prince Nsabimana,Vincent Martin Nsanzumukiza,Victoire Akimanizanye

doi:10.4236/gep.2020.84004

Abstract

This study assessed the contribution of former poachers to wildlife conservation in Volcanoes National Park, the main causes of poaching activities in Volcanoes National Park. The results indicated that the main causes of poaching and other illegal activities are associated with poverty, ignorance and culture and commercial purposes. The results further illustrated that poaching cases decreased in the Volcanoes National Park where, from 2018, the snares removed from the park reduced from above 1000 to 600 snares. In the same year, only 3 poachers from Kinigi and Shingiro Sectors were arrested. The findings illustrated that introducing of revenue sharing scheme where, 10% of the park’s revenues are shared to the local communities living adjacent to the park, and constructing a buffalo wall stone around the Volcanoes National Park are of the important measures which contributed to solve completely the problems of poaching and human-wildlife conflicts in the volcanic area. However, some respondents reported that the construction of buffalo wall did not prevent animal from escaping the park, they have proposed the construction of strong fence such as electrically fenced wall.

Highlights

IntroductionThe Bengal tiger of India and the Gorilla of central Africa have been threatened and heavily poached for their meat, organs, skin, scales and other parts of the body valued for use in traditional medicine; as a result, populations of these species have fallen dramatically during the early 21st century, and they are listed as endangered or critically endangered species (Jones et al, 2012)
The findings illustrated that introducing of revenue sharing scheme where, 10% of the park’s revenues are shared to the local communities living adjacent to the park, and constructing a buffalo wall stone around the Volcanoes National Park are of the important measures which contributed to solve completely the problems of poaching and human-wildlife conflicts in the volcanic area
The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of the former poachers for conservation of wildlife in Volcanoes National Park with the Gorilla Guardian Village as study area, the findings indicated that the contribution of former poachers is highly significant in both tourism and environmental sectors especially after giving up such illegal activities, they decided to become wildlife conservation preachers due to a number of benefits they earn such as employment opportunities, improvement of living conditions, and infrastructure development through effective implementation of revenue sharing scheme introduced by Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in 2005

Summary

Introduction

The Bengal tiger of India and the Gorilla of central Africa have been threatened and heavily poached for their meat, organs, skin, scales and other parts of the body valued for use in traditional medicine; as a result, populations of these species have fallen dramatically during the early 21st century, and they are listed as endangered or critically endangered species (Jones et al, 2012). To reduce poaching activities and their effects on wildlife species, game management and other conservation programs throughout the world have been introduced to overcome the effects of poaching and other threats to wildlife. The former poachers are hired as park rangers to ensure their livelihood change (Beck et al, 2019)

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