Rwanda Development Board (RDB) says that bird watching tourism has increased the amount of time tourists spend in Rwanda.
To date, Rwanda records 700 different kinds of birds. Most of which are found in Akagera National park with 4 particular types of birds .Nyungwe National park accounts for over 27 bird species among others scattered across the country.
In an interview with IGIHE, Ngoga Telesphore, a transfrontier conservation analyst at RDB said that bird watching toursism attracts foreigners who come in Rwanda curious to see the different kinds of birds.
He said that bird watching is far from visiting other animals since it requires a lot of interest and devotion of one’s time. Consequently, tourists visiting Rwanda for bird watching usually end up spending more time in Rwanda especially since some of them are researchers who want to know a lot about the birds.
“For instance when you see a bird twisting, you are required to wait for it to settle before taking a picture. There some small birds in constant movements crossing trees and bushes which people are interested to see. It requires waiting enough time to identify the kind of birds they belong to,” he said.
There are no precise numbers of bird watching tourists since some of them watch birds while at the same time visiting other animals.
Among challenges faced by the bird watching tourism, Ngoga cited people cultivating marshland and cutting forests which destabilizes environments in which birds are familiar to inhabit.
Tourism tops sectors bringing in huge revenues for the country. Last year Rwanda earned USD 318.8 million.
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