{"id":2000127495,"date":"2026-09-29T17:17:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000127495"},"modified":"2026-09-29T17:17:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:17:53","slug":"wildfires-ravage-11000-hectares-of-akagera-national-park-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wildfires-ravage-11000-hectares-of-akagera-national-park-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildfires ravage 11,000 hectares of Akagera National Park in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The park said many of the fires were caused by seemingly small activities, including burning crop residues in fields and lighting fires while harvesting honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the dry season and periods of strong winds, a small fire can spread quickly and cover a large area. We encourage everyone living near the park, as well as the general public, not to light fires near the park and to avoid burning vegetation or grass during the dry season or when it is windy. We also urge people to immediately report any fires to park authorities or local authorities,\u201d the park management said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akagera National Park has reminded communities that protecting the park is a shared responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether, we can protect and conserve the park so that it can continue to exist for future generations,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akagera National Park is located in Rwanda\u2019s Eastern Province, bordering three districts; Kayonza, Gatsibo and Nyagatare. It covers 1,122 square kilometres and is jointly managed by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and African Parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The park recently reported more than $1 million in revenue between April and June 2026, following visits by 8,919 tourists during the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Akagera National Park has reported that 11,000 hectares have been destroyed by wildfires in 2026. Photo by Gael Vande Weghe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Akagera National Park authorities have urged communities living near the park to take precautions to prevent wildfires.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About 11,000 hectares of Akagera National Park have been ravaged by wildfires in 2026, with park authorities attributing the fires mainly to activities by people living near the park and deliberate fires started by poachers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000127498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000127495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","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":2000127498,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/hegitari_ibihumbi_11_z_ubutaka_bwa_pariki_y_akagera_zafashwe_n_inkongi_muri_uyu_mwaka_wa_2026-ced58.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Akagera National Park authorities have urged communities living near the park to take precautions to prevent wildfires.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":666,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/hegitari_ibihumbi_11_z_ubutaka_bwa_pariki_y_akagera_zafashwe_n_inkongi_muri_uyu_mwaka_wa_2026-ced58.jpg","width":1000,"height":666},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/hegitari_ibihumbi_11_z_ubutaka_bwa_pariki_y_akagera_zafashwe_n_inkongi_muri_uyu_mwaka_wa_2026-ced58.jpg","width":1000,"height":666},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/hegitari_ibihumbi_11_z_ubutaka_bwa_pariki_y_akagera_zafashwe_n_inkongi_muri_uyu_mwaka_wa_2026-ced58.jpg","width":1000,"height":666},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/hegitari_ibihumbi_11_z_ubutaka_bwa_pariki_y_akagera_zafashwe_n_inkongi_muri_uyu_mwaka_wa_2026-ced58.jpg","width":1000,"height":666},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/hegitari_ibihumbi_11_z_ubutaka_bwa_pariki_y_akagera_zafashwe_n_inkongi_muri_uyu_mwaka_wa_2026-ced58.jpg","width":1000,"height":666}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000127495","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=2000127495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000127495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000127505,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000127495\/revisions\/2000127505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000127498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000127495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000127495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000127495"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000127495"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000127495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}