Rwanda Development Board (RDB) announced this week that it had sunk Rwf23 billion into projects benefitting communities surrounding national parks in the country. This is within a broader and more ambitious policy framework: the allocation of 10 percent of tourism revenues to communities living around protected areas. This is a strategic commitment to the long-term sustainability of conservation and the tourism industry itself. For conservation to succeed, the people who live closest to protected areas must see wildlife and national parks as assets worth protecting. They should not be asked to bear the costs of conservation while its benefits are enjoyed elsewhere. There is perhaps no better illustration of this than communities around Volcanoes National Park, particularly in Kinigi and the wider Musanze area. Over the years, gorilla tourism has transformed livelihoods in communities neighbouring the park. Beyond direct employment in tourism, local residents benefit from businesses, infrastructure, agriculture, handicrafts and other economic opportunities linked to the thousands of visitors attracted by the mountain gorillas. For such communities, conservation is no longer an abstract environmental concept. It has a direct connection to household incomes, jobs and improved standards of living. It is therefore understandable that people whose livelihoods depend on a thriving tourism industry will have every reason to protect the wildlife and ecosystems sustaining it. A farmer, artisan, hotel worker or entrepreneur who benefits from tourism becomes a natural stakeholder in conservation. This is precisely why the revenue-sharing model—anchored in the 10 percent allocation of tourism proceeds—must continue to be strengthened and expanded around all national parks. Communities neighbouring Nyungwe, Akagera, Gishwati-Mukura and Volcanoes national parks should increasingly see tangible improvements in their lives because of the natural resources they help protect. Whether through schools, health facilities, water infrastructure, income-generating projects or employment, the benefits must remain visible and consistent. Conservation enforced only through laws and patrols can achieve only so much. Sustainable conservation requires ownership. When communities feel excluded, wildlife can easily be perceived as competing with people for land and resources. But when conservation puts food on the table, creates employment and improves public infrastructure, protecting a park becomes a shared interest. Rwanda has demonstrated that tourism and conservation can reinforce each other. The next step is ensuring that the prosperity generated by the sector reaches even deeper into communities around protected areas. Protecting Rwanda’s natural heritage will ultimately depend not only on rangers, conservationists or government agencies, but also on the communities that wake up every morning beside it.
