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Burundi’s Mountains
Burundi is a mountainous country. Its altitude ranges
from about 800 m at Lake Tanganyika to 2,608 m on
Mount Teza in the Kibira National Park. Mountain
Protection in Burundi is of high priority because
the majority of protected areas in Burundi are in
the mountains. These protected mountain areas are
important water towers – the main rivers feeding the
watersheds of the Nile and Congo have their sources
inside the forest of Kibira National Park, one of the
few mountainous forests in the country.
Key Challenges
• The massive mountains in the country are not
classified as protected areas, and these include
Inanzerwe Kibimbi, Birime, and Mpungwe.
• Bushfires are common
• Poaching is widespread
• Funds for mountain protection are limited
• Deforestation rates are high in mountain areas
Recommendations
• Funds must be made available to intervene in all
the national mountain ecosystems
• Awareness raising needs to be a continuous
activity
Policies and institutional Framework
In Burundi, there are no policies which focus
specifically on mountains. However, there are a
number of projects and policies where mountains
and forest ecosystems are taken into consideration,
and they include:
• Strategic Framework for growth and fight against
poverty, Phase II (CSLPII)
• National Strategy and Action Plan for Adaptation
to Climate Change
• National strategy and action plan on
Biodiversity
• Policy of the Ministry of Water, Environment,
Land management and Urban planning
• National environmental Strategy
• National Forestry policy
• Watershed Management and Climate Resilience
Improvement Project in Burundi (PABVARC),
• Reforestation project of a range of mountain
Inanzerwe which starts from Bururi province to
Ruyigi Province
• Biodiversity Project which will end this year
• TAMP KAGERA project which ended
Mountain issues are coordinated by various
institutions, including:
• Ministry of Water, Environment, Land
Management and Urban Planning through
the Burundi Geographical Institute (IGEBU),
and the Burundi Office of the Environment
Protection (OBPE)
• National Commission on Environment
Policy responses
Even if there are no policies which focus specifically
on mountains, some mountains have been reforested
through the national reforestation programme, and
receive attention for protection against bushfires and
poaching.Eachyear,theGovernmentofBurundiprovides
about 10 million seedlings for reforestation. Kibimbi
and Inanzerwe mountains are important attractions
for hiking, and are also famous for hot springs. These
mountains support the livelihoods of many Burundians
through grazing, drinking water, construction materials,
and land for farming.
Lesson learned
In Burundi, there are projects that deal with climate
change adaptation such as TAMP KAGERA which
also include the WatershedManagement and Climate
Resilience Improvement Project (PABVARC), and
the Biodiversity Project.
Women harvesting tea leaves in Rwegura, Burundi