When Ange Imanishimwe graduated from the University of Rwanda, he embarked on a lifelong journey in biodiversity conservation. After working for several years as a tour guide at Nyungwe National Park, he established a social enterprise focused on protecting the forest while improving the livelihoods of surrounding communities. In 2013, during a citizen outreach meeting in Nyamagabe District, 27-year-old Imanishimwe presented President Paul Kagame with his beekeeping project, which sought to protect Nyungwe’s buffer zone. Nyungwe Forest was later inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021. Born in Tare Sector, Nyamagabe District, which borders Nyungwe, Imanishimwe holds a bachelor's degree in biodiversity conservation obtained in 2011, a master's degree earned in 2015 and a PhD completed in 2020. He worked as a tour guide at Nyungwe National Park under the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) for four years. He said he used part of his salary to support his family and BIOCOOP, a cooperative he founded to empower young people living around the park. ALSO READ: What addition of Nyungwe park on World Heritage List means At the time, he represented more than 200 young people organised into beekeeping cooperatives that produced six tonnes of honey every month. “People used to practise beekeeping inside Nyungwe Forest, which threatened the environment. That is why we chose to do it in the buffer zone,” he said. The project also turned honey by-products into handcrafted artefacts sold to visitors. In 2012, Imanishimwe was named Rwanda's Top Young Innovator during the YouthConnekt Awards and received Rwf3.5 million. The same year, he founded BIOCOOP, which focused on biodiversity conservation and community development. In 2020, it evolved into the Biodiversity Conservation Organisation (BIOCOOR), a non-governmental organisation. BIOCOOR works in the five districts surrounding Nyungwe National Park — Rusizi, Nyamasheke, Karongi, Nyamagabe and Nyaruguru — as well as Huye, Nyanza and Gisagara districts. Its conservation work focuses on Nyungwe National Park and its buffer zone, Lake Kivu and the Rusizi River Basin. “From a young age, I committed myself to creating positive change in my community by integrating biodiversity conservation, ecotourism, community health, agriculture, entrepreneurship, climate action and sustainable development in Rwanda,” he said. Imanishimwe also founded Nyungwe EcoVillage, a community-based ecotourism initiative in Kitabi Sector, Nyamagabe District, about one kilometre from the eastern entrance to Nyungwe National Park. He later worked for The Nature Conservancy, where he helped secure nearly $1.3 million in grants and investments from partners including the Government of South Korea, UNDP, JOA, Trócaire, IUCN, the Commonwealth Foundation, the Ministry of Youth and Arts, World Resources Institute's TerraFund AFR100, the Van Tienhoven Foundation and the New Forests Company. He was also part of a team of consultants that developed Rwanda's Conservation Strategy and Master Plan and supported local cooperatives and NGOs in establishing ecotourism centres around protected areas. Imanishimwe has since established a Conservation Leadership Centre near Nyungwe, where students from the African Leadership University, RP Kitabi College and the University of Rwanda receive training in entrepreneurship, leadership, ecotourism, project management and biodiversity conservation. ALSO READ: Nyungwe park unveils new attractions, targets Rwf4.8bn takings in 2025 Meeting former President Obama In 2015, Imanishimwe was selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship programme of the US Government's Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), established by former President Barack Obama. He travelled to the United States to study Public Policy and Civic Leadership at the University of California, Berkeley. After completing the academic programme, the White House informed him that Obama had been impressed by his community conservation work around Nyungwe, particularly his use of local knowledge and community-driven solutions. He later met Obama during the 2015 YALI Summit. “When I was in Washington, DC, I asked President Barack Obama a question about climate change,” he recalled. According to Imanishimwe, Obama spent more than 10 minutes responding to his question. He was also selected among 100 African young leaders for a Professional Development Experience in the United States, where he was placed at The Nature Conservancy in Boston, Massachusetts. During the fellowship, he contributed to community conservation programmes at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and delivered presentations at Yale University in Connecticut and Antioch University New England in New Hampshire. “The Mandela Washington Fellowship connected me with professionals in biodiversity conservation and environmental management. It also gave me the opportunity to share Rwanda's conservation achievements with American universities,” he said. He later returned to Rwanda and resumed his conservation work, eventually dedicating himself fully to BIOCOOR. ALSO READ: 10 reasons why Nyungwe National Park should be your next adventure More recently, he participated in the International Congress for Conservation Biology in Brisbane, Australia. He is also a 2025 Kinship Conservation Fellow and recently completed a one-month programme in the United States on market-based approaches to conservation. Protecting Nyungwe’s buffer zone Imanishimwe has served as a consultant on biodiversity studies and ecological monitoring in Nyungwe’s buffer zone. Nyungwe is one of Africa's oldest rainforests and is home to 322 bird species, 120 butterfly species, 77 mammal species and 12 primate species, many of which are endemic to the Albertine Rift. The park is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and provides around 70 per cent of Rwanda's freshwater supply. Working with grassroots communities, Imanishimwe says his initiatives have helped 8,050 people escape poverty, including 500 former poachers. His projects have also created 121 permanent jobs and 3,500 part-time jobs. “We host young biologists through academic and professional internships while integrating leadership and entrepreneurship into biological sciences. Over the next five years, I plan to expand these projects across East Africa and create 15,000 green jobs,” he said. His approach focuses on changing the attitudes of former poachers, providing alternative livelihoods and promoting professional beekeeping as a sustainable source of income. His restoration initiatives have rehabilitated 350 hectares of forest through Assisted Natural Regeneration on islands in Lake Kivu. ALSO READ: Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park becomes UNESCO World Heritage Site “In partnership with African Parks, we are reducing human-wildlife conflict by constructing predator-proof shelters, which have significantly reduced livestock losses in southern Rwanda. At the same time, we are improving livelihoods around the park, contributing to the protection of 13 primate species, including chimpanzees and mountain monkeys on the IUCN Red List,” he said. Growing medicinal plants outside Nyungwe Imanishimwe has also established a botanical garden featuring indigenous medicinal trees and plants around Nyungwe. “One of the greatest threats to the park is the illegal harvesting of medicinal plants and trees. Many people entered Nyungwe to collect these protected species. Our solution is to grow them outside the forest,” he explained. The initiative has planted 60 types of indigenous medicinal trees and plants, with five hectares already established in Nyamagabe and Nyaruguru districts. According to Imanishimwe, the restoration programme has contributed to the return of wildlife and bird species while reducing pressure on the natural forest.
