Sustaining Biodiversity Conservation in and around Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda Annual Work-plan March 2012 – February 2013

The project is funded by USAID under the associate cooperative agreement No. AID-696-LA-10-00001. The project's principal objective is to strengthen the RDB's biodiversity and threats monitoring capacity, build capacity of RDB and district administrations to understand, manage and resolve conflicts related to the use of natural resources, mitigate threats to biodiversity and manage tourism in NNP. The project also aims to assist the Government of Rwanda in designing a legal and regulatory framework for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and develop PES schemes that incentivize desired land uses. The project will achieve six key main results: RDB capacity to assess and monitor threats and wildlife is strengthened, RDB and Districts capacity to resolve conflicts, mitigate threats and manage tourism is strengthened, Government of Rwanda capacity to develop and support Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) policies is strengthened, Government and communities are positioned to benefit from payments for ecosystem services (PES), sustainable alternatives to natural resource use are available, and communities understand the value of Nyungwe. The project will implement a number of strategies, including building capacity of RDB personnel to monitor NNP biodiversity and threats, building capacity of RDB and district administrations to understand, manage and resolve conflicts related to the use of natural resources, mitigating threats to biodiversity and managing tourism in NNP, assisting the Government of Rwanda in designing a legal and regulatory framework for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), developing PES schemes that incentivize desired land uses, introducing sustainable alternatives to natural resource use, and implementing education, outreach and park interpretation initiatives. The project will be implemented by The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in collaboration with partners such as ARECO, ECOTRUST, IISD, REDO, and RDB. The project team is composed of full-time staff and Short Term Technical Assistance (STTA) coupled with technical and administrative support from WCS New York, Africa Program-based staff. The Project Director, Aaron Nicholas, will have primary responsibility for the overall project management and coordination with USAID, RDB, District leaders, and other partners. The project will focus on several key areas, including strengthening RDB's biodiversity and threats monitoring capacity, conflict resolution and tourism impact mitigation, payments for ecosystem services, sustainable alternatives for resource use, and education and outreach. The project will also conduct further climate change monitoring training for RDB staff, roll-out conflict mitigation capacity building to all park rangers, and pilot new approaches to fern clearance aimed at reducing the labor cost of this essential activity. The project will also work with REDO to assess the impact of introducing energy-efficient stoves into 200 households in the Bweyeye and Cyamudongo areas, and will move ahead with both developing/producing materials for schools and target community outreach groups and training both teachers and community educators in the use of these materials ahead of distributing and monitoring material implementation. The project's overall goal is that Rwanda benefits from the conservation of wildlife and sustainable use of ecosystem services in Nyungwe National Park. The project aims to achieve this goal by strengthening the capacity of the RDB to sustainably manage the park's resources and address specific threats to the park and specific species of concern.