State production companies and institutions—Regideso, Isabu, and DPAE—carry out several development activities in Kibira, while local communities illegally exploit forest and mineral resources there. These activities exacerbate deforestation in Kibira. This second story is part of a series of four investigations produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center.
“Kibira has become agricultural land!” exclaims a tracker after a motorbike tour in the Rwegura sector of Kibira National Park. Weeds have even been burned, he continues. Vegetation and animals have been replaced by ploughed fields and fallow land.
“During the growing season, there are fields of maize, potatoes, etc., where state institutions such as the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock (DPAE) in Kayanza and the Burundi Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Isabu) conduct research, says Benoît” who lives in Rwegura.
Kibira is not only threatened by the fields of these state institutions. It is also threatened by the fields of local communities.
Professor Richard Habonayo, lecturer and researcher at the University of Burundi, adds that “some farmers clear the Kibira forest to grow food crops such as potatoes, cassava and beans, while others illegally cut down trees for charcoal, firewood and basketry.”
These state institutions and local communities are clearing the Kibira National Park (KNP) by cutting down trees.
Scientist Dr Laurent Ntahuga says state research institutions often conduct their activities in the park without taking its conservation into account. What worries the scientific community and environmentalists in Burundi most is the continued expansion of crops through the clearing of the PNK, especially in the Rwegura sector. Professor André Nduwimana is appalled by the incursions and expansion of potato cultivation in the park.
Environmentalist Léonidas Nzigiyimpa, legal representative of 3C (Conservation and Community for Change), is also concerned about the gradual expansion of agricultural fields. These are consuming the park over time, he says.
“Research tailored to this environment has been carried out thanks to the microclimate generated by Kibira. This is why Isabu has certain crops such as potatoes, coffee, macadamia nuts and many others in the park and its surroundings on which it conducts research,” says Berchmans Hatungimana, the Director General of the Burundian Office for Environmental Protection.
With the will, these state institutions can relocate this scientific research, suggests researcher Richard Habonayo. He believes that they would not lack places to conduct it.
What about the Mpanda dam?
The threats to Kibira are diversifying. One of these is the construction of the 10.4 kW Mpanda hydroelectric dam in the park. Designed to alleviate the electricity shortage, this dam is being built on the upper reaches of the Mpanda River. According to Jean Rushemeza, an independent consultant who carried out the “Preliminary assessment of the impact of the Mpanda hydroelectric project on the biodiversity of the Kibira National Park” report published in 2019, the dam, the reservoir and part of the penstock are being built on a large part of the Musigati sector and a small part of the Teza sector of Kibira National Park. Once construction is complete, Kibira will lose an area of approximately 135 hectares. This does not take into account the area of clay extraction sites and quarries also located in the park, as well as the opening of three access roads to the power station from the park boundary, he explains.
He adds that the project site is located in a highly sensitive area. “The biodiversity located in the dam area, the water intake tower and the access roads were partially destroyed by the works even before an inventory was carried out to determine its richness. However, its biodiversity, like that of the park in general, is very poorly known,” explains Rushemeza.
Unfortunately, his project has been suspended since 2016 after 30% of the project activities had been completed.
Habonayo believes that development projects in Kibira Park are acceptable on condition that “a preliminary environmental and social impact assessment must be carried out to demonstrate that the project is viable and that it will be able to remedy any significant damage”
Consultant Rushemeza reports that construction of the Mpanda hydroelectric dam began in late 2011 without a prior environmental and social impact assessment nor a feasibility study.
Before work resumes, Rushemeza recommends conducting a detailed study of the species and their habitats in the 135-hectare area. In addition, he proposes reducing the area on which the dam will be built to 12 hectares.
Environmentalist Nzigiyimpa shares that ‘the local community also puts a lot of pressure on Kibira by cutting bamboo on a large scale in the park and illegally extracting minerals there.’
In October 2019, the third National Communication on Climate Change estimated the loss of Kibira’s area over the last ten years (from 2009 to 2019) at between 10,000 and 12,000 hectares. Currently, six years after its publication, the area of Kibira is not well known, according to the same report.
A study conducted by researchers Dr. Joël Ndayishimiye and Prof. Fréderic Bangirinama in 2016, cited by Prof. Habonayo, indicates that as a result of these agricultural activities, the Kibira forest is at risk of fragmentation.
Controversial data
OBPE Director General Berchmans Hatungimana categorically denies these data, stating, ‘I cannot confirm these data, but I believe they are false’.
However, he affirms that scientific research activities on certain crops, illegal mining and exploitation of forest resources, and bush fires destroying the environment are taking place within Kibira Park. Nevertheless, not a single centimetre of Kibira mentioned in the presidential decree defining its boundaries has been encroached upon.’
He further emphasises tha by clarifying the boundaries of the park as mentioned in the presidential decree, we found that there are forest galleries that had not been attached to Kibira, even though they should be part of it’. These will therefore increase the area of Kibira.
According to researcher Richard Habonayo, all these findings prove that the area of the PNK has decreased significantly over time. He also advocates conducting in-depth studies to determine the actual area of Kibira, which is not well known today.
