Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, marking the country’s first site to receive this prestigious status.
Good news: Rwanda’s @NyungwePark has just become the first site in our country to be inscribed in @UNESCO‘s World Heritage List. This is a significant designation that will reinforce Rwanda’s ongoing conservation efforts. #VisitRwanda #ConservationIsLife https://t.co/4TILMfJpcD
— Yolande Makolo 🇷🇼 (@YolandeMakolo) September 19, 2023
The decision was made during a session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“This serial property represents an important area for rainforest conservation in Central Africa,” UNESCO said in a description on its website.
“The Park also contains the most significant natural habitats for a number of species found nowhere else in the world, including the globally threatened Eastern Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti) and the Critically Endangered Hills Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hillorum).”
The park, which spans nearly 102,000 hectares in southwestern Rwanda, is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, including several globally threatened species.
The Nyungwe National Park also feeds two of the world’s longest rivers – the Nile and the Congo – and provides up to 70% of Rwanda’s freshwater. The monetary value of Nyungwe is estimated at $4.8 billion.
