From 500 to 200: Tea Plantations Are Fueling the Decline of Kibira’s Chimpanzees

By: Arthur Bizimana Tea plantations stretching as far as the eye can see on the edge of Kibira Park, agricultural fields, construction of a hydroelectric power station and vast bare land abandoned inside Kibira… Production companies and state institutions – OTB, Regideso, Isabu and DPAE – as well as local communities have encroached on the habitat…

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The Price of Tea: How Burundi is trading a National Park for a Cash Crop

By: Arthur Bizimana When Kibira was elevated to protected area status by a ministerial order establishing its boundaries on 12 December 1933, its area was 90,000 hectares. This remained the case until 1950, according to Professor Richard Habonayo, a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy and Bioengineering at the University of Burundi. Today, this…

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