Lake Kivu Islands Biodiversity Inventories Karongi

As commissioned by Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA), the main objective of this survey was to make a rapid inventory of Kivu islands biodiversity and a socio-economy assessment particularly in Karongi District. In total, seven islands have been surveyed: Nyamunini, Mukondwe, Shegesha, Amahoro, Nyenyeri, Mpangara and Nyarugaba. The thematic groups studied were birds, plants, invertebrates, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and socio-economy. Research methods are detailed in the report and vary according to the thematic area.

Results obtained for birds indicate that 80 species of birds were recorded in all islands surveyed 142 plant species, 52 invertebrates, 6 mammals, 6 reptiles and 5 species of amphibians. Some species of particular interest such as endemic, rare or useful species were described in the text.

Socio-economic findings revealed that various human activities are still taking place extensively in the islands. There is a lot of farming, animal grazing, and handcraft making using raw materials collected from the forest; there is also fishing, charcoal burning and firewood and medicinal plants collection which invariably indicates strong relatioship between ecosystems of the area and human activities.