The Virunga Landscape

Introduction The Virunga landscape covers a total area of 15 155 km2, running from north to south over the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Protected areas make up 56% of the landscape: Virunga National Park (772 700 ha), Volcanoes National Park (16 000 ha), a 10-km-wide strip of land running alongside the two parks, Sarambwe Reserve (900 ha) and the Rutshuru Hunting Domain (64 200 ha) (Devers and Vande weghe 2007).


Introduction
The Virunga landscape covers a total area of 15 155 km 2 , running from north to south over the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.Protected areas make up 56% of the landscape: Virunga National Park (772 700 ha), Volcanoes National Park (16 000 ha), a 10-km-wide strip of land running alongside the two parks, Sarambwe Reserve (900 ha) and the Rutshuru Hunting Domain (64 200 ha) (Devers and Vande weghe 2007).
The landscape is comprised of three terrestrial ecoregions: the Afroalpine barrens of Rwenzori-Virunga; the Afromontane forest of the Albertine Rift; and the forest-savannah mosaic of the Lake Victoria area.Also present are aquatic ecoregions in the Albertine Rift Mountains, namely Lakes Kivu, Edward, George, Burera, Ruhondo and Victoria, as well as three mountains ranges: Mitumba, Rwenzori and Virunga.

Southern area of the Sarambwe forest (Photo: Claude Sikubwabo)
The climate is bimodal, with two rainy seasons (around September-December and March-May), and two dry seasons (around January and July).The annual temperature stays in the range of 20-23 °C, and the elevation is 680-5119 metres.

Population
The Virunga landscape is home to 2 million urban residents and almost the same number of rural inhabitants, with an average density of 200-300 people/km 2 , peaking at 600/ km 2 in some areas (Wengamulay 2011).The main ethnic groups are the Nande, Hutu, Tutsi, Hunde and Kumu.Many members of these ethnic groups live in conurbations.
The main activity is subsistence agriculture, with a small minority of people rearing livestock, fishing and hunting, both for consumption and for sale.

Deforestation
An estimated area of 136 km 2 of forestland was cleared during 2000-2005, giving a deforestation rate of 4.14% (de Wasseige and Devers 2009).The main drivers of deforestation are agriculture and the excessive exploitation of wood for energy and for making handicrafts.Furthermore, in 2004, Virunga National Park lost 1500 ha of forest because of the influx of refugees from Rwanda.In Rutshuru Hunting Domain, more than 90% of the land is totally degraded and used for cultivation (Devers and Vande weghe 2007).
Outside the protected areas, 80% of the land area is used for subsistence agriculture (crops include maize, Irish potatoes, beans and sorghum) or industrial agriculture (coffee, tea, cacao and cinchona) (de Wasseige and Devers 2009).In addition, wood and charcoal taken from the forest constitute the main sources of energy for local people.

Biodiversity
The Virunga landscape is home to a great variety of wildlife with exceptional endemism.It has more than 210 species of mammals (although populations are shrinking because of overexploitation and poaching), 706 species of birds, 109 species of reptiles and 78 species of amphibians.In particular among the mammals are 22 species of primates and 3 taxons of great monkeys (de Wasseige and Devers 2009), namely mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei); Eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) and Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii).
Also present is a small population of okapis (Okapia johnstoni), mainly in the non-degraded equatorial forest along the Semliki River.This population is threatened by commercial hunting and charcoal production; similarly, a great variety of fishes in Lake Edward are under threat because of overfishing.

Threats to biodiversity conservation
The main drivers of biodiversity loss are agriculture, pressure on natural resources and poaching.

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Most agricultural techniques are traditional, and productivity is not high enough to meet households' needs.People therefore use more land for farming, thus intensifying the pressure on the forests and leading to about 8% of the forest lost.

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The pressure on natural resources is evident in the overfishing, overexploitation of land and overexploitation of flora and fauna.Rather than diversifying their livelihood activities and income sources, people continue to rely exclusively on the exploitation of forest resources, thus subjecting those resources to constant stress and causing a drop in productivity and the collapse of stocks.
In particular, communities are dependent both on bamboo and on forest species for agriculture and energy.

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Illegal hunting, which is a major threat to wildlife, is carried out not only to make up the dietary shortfall in animal protein but also for trafficking, particularly of elephant tusks, hippopotamus teeth and baby gorillas.

Land use
It is important to note that spatial planning is at a very early stage, and no forest concession exists.Nevertheless, two macro-zones can be identified in the Virunga landscape:

Challenges and constraints for REDD + and adaptation
The Virunga landscape is subject to multiple threats that will reduce its climate resilience and complicate efforts to implement REDD+: This research was carried out by CIFOR as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.This collaborative program aims to enhance the management and use of forests, agroforestry and tree genetic resources across the landscape from forests to farms.CIFOR leads the program in partnership with Bioversity International, CIRAD (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture and the World Agroforestry Centre.