Restore Local 323d ago

Before we talk about the beauty of Nyungwe National Park, let’s give a shout out to the amazing community of Bweyeye sector, at the outskirts of this rich forest. They are at the forefront, fighting tirelessly to restore the fertility of their farmlands while striving to protect this rich biodiversity area in Africa. This area used to be very fertile but behind that its landform made it vulnerable to landslide and erosion when people started cutting trees leaving it bare. Realizing the impacts that could even take lives of people, the local communities in collaboration with the local government started restoring back the vegetation cover with aim to curb the erosion and increase the soil productivity. However, due to the lack of alternatives, some community members threaten the Park for resources to survive. Alongside this relatively remote community, Nature Rwanda and Birdlife International conducted the landscape analysis and together elaborated the best approach to speed up their interventions: Land restoration and alternative income generating activities for communities. This oldest park next to their home is protected by law; however, the park ranger alone could not guarantee success if the neighboring communities are not effectively engaged and participating in the protection of the park. With Restore Local partnership, @naturerwandango1548 and @BirdlifeOrgInternational are upscaling this restoration work while safeguarding this oldest rainforest in Africa. Nyungwe National Park is home to a wide array of plant and animal species, including 13 primate species, 300 bird species, and over 90 mammal species some of which are only found there or Albertine rift not elsewhere in the world. With funding from TerraFund- a partnership by @WorldResourcesInstitute @onetreeplanted and @RealizeImpact - which is currently supporting Restore Local’s mission to invest in locally led restoration- Nature Rwanda, BirdLife International and communities around Nyungwe forest in Bweyeye of Rusizi District-Rwanda, are growing 217,800, putting under restoration 727 hectares, creating 400 jobs. This is made possible thanks to the support from @BezosEarthFund and @theaudaciousproject3637 Thank you for watching! Pick up your seedling and join the movement of Restoration champions. It all starts local and local is where you are now! This video story is produced in collaboration with Right Venture Creative, a video firm in Rwanda.