Development and strengthening of the ecological integrity of the Vyanda Reserve

The Vyanda Nature Reserve (4670 ha) is located in the southwest of Burundi, in the Province of Bururi, 90 km away from Bujumbura, and is managed by INECN. By law this is an IUCN Category 1 PA.

The ERB association (which also works for an AfDB / UNDP project on the development of spatial planning with contour lines and the reforestation of indigenous species around protected areas, with an annual budget of around 400 K €) knows well this area because it intervenes in the reintegration of returnees in one of the two provinces where the reserve is located, the one of Bururi. The reserve is covered with clear miombo forests (dominance of Brachystegia) and mountain forests; it is home to, among other things, a population of around 140 common chimpanzees “Pan troglodytes” according to a census taken in 2009, whose habitat is gradually deteriorating due to the illegal occupation of 300 households. In fact, around 1,000 ha are destroyed each year by recurrent bush fires, abusive cutting of wood, transhumance and the extraction of aggregates in quarries. Since 2013, ERB has ensured, together with INECN, that there is no more transhumance or new household installations, to reduce by 30% the area burned each year (from 600 ha to 2013 to 260 ha in 2014) and was able to fully protect around 2,000 ha.

ERB proposes here to delimit the reserve, to strengthen its surveillance, to reforest a small part with native species and to develop beekeeping among neighboring populations. The NGO’s co-financing will be used for environmental education activities (creation of clubs, awareness raising in schools).

Among the partners who support the project, there is the French Embassy and the Pays de la Loire Region, which have supported the eco-guards (equipment, camp), set up goat breeding and beekeeping activities. , maintained the limits of the reserve over 35 km, etc. Discussions with the Jane Goodall Institute are underway to see if it is possible to develop a tourism offer based on the observation of chimpanzees (easy to observe, given the small size of the protected area). 21,060 people will be affected by the project.