Lake Kivu has 113 islands, including 42 in Rutsiro District. Some of the islands have historical and cultural features that could attract tourists, while others are inhabited or used for activities such as agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Deo Ruhagaze, Deputy Director of the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA), said the organisation welcomed the government\u2019s plan to establish island parks and decided to support the feasibility study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese will be two separate parks: the Rugezi Wetland and the islands in Lakes Burera and Ruhondo, and the islands in Lake Kivu. Today, we have a team of more than 30 experts studying how the project could be implemented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team includes experts in business, biodiversity, community livelihoods and economics. They are working alongside representatives from the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA), Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), RDB and Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts back the island park<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Ange Imanishimwe, founder of BIOCOOR, an organisation that has contributed to biodiversity conservation in Rwanda for 14 years, said some Lake Kivu islands have faced increasing human pressure because they lack a clear management framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said designating them as a national park would establish clearer rules for their conservation and sustainable use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the islands in Lake Kivu were brought together under a national park, they would be better protected because there would be clear regulations and a framework for how they could be sustainably used,\u201d Imanishimwe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that the absence of a clear tourism framework means the country is not benefiting fully from visitors to the islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A national park designation, he said, would also help protect vegetation and trees on the islands, which could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prof Elias Bizuru, a lecturer at the University of Rwanda and biodiversity expert, said research conducted on the Lake Kivu islands had identified species that are not found elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLake Kivu has 28 fish species and also contains endemic species. Turning it into a national park would bring tourism benefits, biodiversity conservation benefits, benefits for communities and benefits for the country,\u201d he told IGIHE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tourism operators also expect the designation to increase visitor numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Niyomugabo Moise, head of a cooperative of 40 members offering tours on Lake Kivu, said they can receive about 1,000 tourists a month during peak periods, around 70% of them from outside Africa. During slower periods, the cooperative receives about 300 visitors a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said tourists are interested in exploring Lake Kivu, its biodiversity and its islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the Lake Kivu islands become a national park, it would help us grow because, as we have seen elsewhere, parks work with communities. Designating the islands as a park would increase the number of visitors because they would receive greater promotion,\u201d Niyomugabo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do the proposed areas meet the requirements?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Establishing a new national park in Rwanda involves six stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The process begins with identifying an area that could qualify as a national park and formally notifying landowners of the proposal. This is followed by environmental and social impact assessments, consideration of any objections or appeals, establishment of the park\u2019s boundaries, and finally the formal designation and establishment of the park in accordance with Article 10 of Law N\u00ba 14\/2023 governing national parks and natural areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frank Dushimimana, an RDB official in charge of wildlife conservation and protected areas, said the study of the proposed Lake Kivu island park began about four months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe study has started, and in the coming days they will also reach out to communities so that the study is guided by what is appropriate for residents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The involvement of communities is expected to be an important part of determining how the proposed parks would be managed and how surrounding populations could benefit from conservation and tourism activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The uniqueness of Rugezi, Ruhondo and Burera<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The second proposed national park would bring together Rugezi Wetland and Lakes Burera and Ruhondo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rugezi is a large high-altitude wetland covering about 6,735 hectares in Burera and Gicumbi districts in northern Rwanda. It lies at an elevation of about 2,100 metres above sea level and is an important source of water flowing towards the Nile River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wetland is a major source of water for the Northern Province and also supplies water used by the Ntaruka hydropower plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Ruhagaze said the proposed park would have a particular conservation value because Rugezi is home to about half of Rwanda\u2019s population of grey crowned cranes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cranes lay their eggs in protected areas of the wetland where there is limited human disturbance. Their population in Rugezi has increased significantly over the past decade, from 71 birds in 2015 to 378.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf Rugezi, Burera and Ruhondo become a national park, it would contribute to conserving the biodiversity found in the wetland and particularly on the islands of Lakes Burera and Ruhondo, including the grey crowned cranes and the many reptiles found there,\u201d Ruhagaze said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo, often described as twin lakes, are already among Rwanda\u2019s major natural attractions. Lake Burera alone has nine islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rwanda is studying the creation of two new national parks that could expand the country\u2019s protected areas and strengthen its tourism offering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000123385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000123383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000123385,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/ikiyaga_cya_kivu_kirimo_ibirwa_113-b75a7.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Lake Kivu has 113 islands, including 42 in Rutsiro District.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/ikiyaga_cya_kivu_kirimo_ibirwa_113-b75a7.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/ikiyaga_cya_kivu_kirimo_ibirwa_113-b75a7.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/ikiyaga_cya_kivu_kirimo_ibirwa_113-b75a7.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/ikiyaga_cya_kivu_kirimo_ibirwa_113-b75a7.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/ikiyaga_cya_kivu_kirimo_ibirwa_113-b75a7.jpg","width":1000,"height":667}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000123383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000123386,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123383\/revisions\/2000123386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000123385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000123383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000123383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000123383"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000123383"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000123383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/igishanga_cya_rugezi_gishobora_kugirwa_pariki_m.jpg\")
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