Nature in Burundi

Burundi lies within the Great Lakes and Albertine Rift region. Its main natural landscapes include the Congo-Nile Ridge, the Imbo and Rusizi plains, the Lake Tanganyika littoral, the Bugesera lake-marsh complex, the Kumoso or Mosso-Malagarazi depression and eastern savanna. Montane forests, miombo woodland, gallery forest, papyrus marshes, river corridors and lake ecosystems support different species and ecological functions. Protected areas are legally established and managed through the national system of aires protégées, commonly shortened to AP. The Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock sets policy, while the Office Burundais pour la Protection de l’Environnement, or OBPE, is responsible for protected-area creation and management, enforcement and biodiversity monitoring. Provincial, communal and local administrations work with communities, and the National Commission for UNESCO, known as COMNAT, is involved in international nominations. Inventory totals depend on the legal or listing basis: a functional national inventory records 14 protected areas, while a 2011 law page refers to 16, including Bujumbura Arboretum. The four Ramsar wetlands cover 78,515 hectares: Rusizi, Ruvubu, Paysage Aquatique Protégé du Nord and Malagarazi. Ramsar status supports wise use, maintenance of ecological character and consultation where wetlands cross national borders. Kibira National Park covers about 40,000 hectares on the Congo-Nile Ridge at roughly 1,600 to 2,700 metres and connects with Rwanda’s Nyungwe landscape. Its montane rainforest, bamboo and high-altitude marshes regulate water for the Imbo and plateau regions and contain more than 644 plant species, about 98 mammal species, around 200 bird species and 10 primate species, including the chimpanzee. Ruvubu National Park covers 50,800 hectares along a 62-kilometre river corridor. Its wooded, grass and herbaceous savannas, gallery forests and papyrus marshes provide habitat for hippopotamuses, buffalo, sitatunga, leopards and Nile crocodiles, as well as 421 recorded bird species, 44 mammal species and 14 fish species. Rusizi National Park covers 10,673 hectares in the Imbo plain and Tanganyika delta. Its delta, palm formation and connecting corridor contain hippos, sitatunga, about 350 resident and migratory bird species, 44 river fish species, 11 pond fish species and 17 amphibian species. The park is also a key fish-reproduction area; its current management plan covers 2025 to 2029 and includes visitor and ecotourism infrastructure. The Northern Aquatic Protected Landscape covers 16,242 hectares in Kirundo and Bugesera. It includes eight lakes, the 3,075-hectare Murehe Forest and papyrus marshes with water plants such as Nymphaea and Potamogeton. Rwihinda is known as the lake of birds, while agriculture, fishing, erosion and resource overuse shape local pressures; its management plan covers 2025 to 2034. The Malagarazi protected wetland lies in the Kumoso depression near the Tanzanian border and connects savanna, gallery forest, flood pulses and Congo-basin fish habitats. Bururi, Monge, Rumonge, Vyanda and Kigwena protect different montane, miombo and lowland forest types, while Gisagara and the protected landscapes around Mabanda, Nyanza-Lac and Mukungu-Rukambasi contain savanna, miombo and gallery forest. Species inventories remain incomplete in several of these smaller areas. Karera Falls and the Nyakazu Faults have Monument Naturel status. People use protected-area resources for agriculture, fishing, grazing, medicinal plants, wild foods, mushrooms, bamboo, papyrus, firewood, charcoal, construction wood, honey and water or transport services. A 2022 ordinance regulates the use of biological resources in protected areas and natural areas. OBPE guidance summarises prohibitions on hunting, fishing and woodcutting inside protected areas, while cultivation around protected areas is limited to land beyond 1,000 metres; authorised extraction of indispensable resources may be possible for neighbouring populations under applicable rules. Boundary disputes, past settlement and expropriation, crop damage, human-wildlife conflict, limited benefit-sharing and weak consultation create tensions, including around Kibira and Rusizi. Deforestation, agricultural encroachment, charcoal production, illegal timber cutting, fires, overgrazing, poaching, mining, infrastructure, waste, pollution, erosion and siltation affect ecosystems. Droughts, floods and landslides can become more frequent or severe as climate conditions change, while invasive plants include Lantana camara, Eichhornia crassipes and Sericostachys scandens. Birdwatching, hippopotamus observation, guided walks and ecological education are developing uses. Ruvubu promotes guided short visits, Kibira has access points at Busekera and Rwegura, and Rusizi lies near Bujumbura, but no current national tariff or opening-hours schedule was located. Burundi’s biodiversity strategy for 2021 to 2030, protected-area plans for 2025 to 2029 and 2025 to 2034, restoration, boundary demarcation, invasive-species removal, monitoring, community co-management and alternative livelihoods shape current conservation work. Cooperation with Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains relevant where ecosystems, wildlife or rivers cross borders.