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Pictures and text  by Friends of Akagera National Park

26/06/2014

May this year was the first month in AMC’s four-year management of Akagera where not a single poached animal was discovered by the law enforcement team. Patrol coverage was good and 93 snares were recovered and no arrests were made.

The LE department have shown dedication and motivation in the past year, having received new equipment and training, greater monitoring through the implementation of a new ranger based monitoring programme and the employment of a dedicated GIS operator to analyze patrol coverage and GPS data. Congratulations to the team!

Rwanda National Police brings  two confiscated  cranes to the Akagera National Park

Pictures and text  by Friends of Akagera National Park

14/06/2014

Vets taking samples and tagging the cranes for identification

Wood poachers arrested in the Akagera National Park

06/12/2013

4 december 2013 by Friends of the Akagera National Park :

Poaching animals for meat is not the only threat to Akagera’s biodiversity. The East African sandalwood tree, or Kabaruka as it is known, is under threat from extensive illegal harvesting throughout East Africa and at serious risk of becoming endangered. This tree is targeted for its scented wood from which oil is extracted, which has a commercial high value in the perfume industry.

Akagera, and the surrounding areas where these trees are still growing, has become a source of the wood and cases of illegally cutting down this particular tree have escalated dramatically over the past year. Just over a year ago, when we first discovered that this tree was being targeted, Kabaruka was purchased at around 250 rwf per kg, it now attracts around 600 rwf per kg. These bikes were confiscated from the boundary fence yesterday where they had been parked while the owners were inside the park collecting the wood. Several more bikes were confiscated in the north of the park on the same day.