Conservation Program In Rwanda Helps Turn Gorilla Poachers Into Ecotourism Guides

Conservationists at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, are celebrating a double achievement the success of a conservation programme in Rwanda that has helped turn gorilla poachers into ecotourism guides, and a major international award for the programme’s founder, alumnus Edwin Sabuhoro.
Mr Sabuhoro, a Rwandan national, completed his one-year MSc in Conservation and Tourism at DICE in 2006 with a dissertation titled Ecotourism as a potential conservation incentive for local communities around Rwanda's Parc National des Volcans. A dedicated ‘adventurer, naturalist, educator, guide, tracker, ranger and conservationist’, Mr Sabuhoro then put his research findings into action by founding the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village in Northern Rwanda, a community-based ecotourism initiative that was designed to develop incentives for local people to protect gorilla habitats. Read more >>