Abstract:
Protected areas (PAs) conservation requires prominent approaches for safeguarding biodiversity
and ecosystem services. Beside these services, PAs act as key source of development, poverty
alleviation and employment, especially through tourism and in turn contributing to green
economy. For sustaining these goods and services, there is need to continuously improve
management practices using research. Therefore, this study conducted in Nyungwe National
Park intended to assess the influence of conducted research on Nyungwe National Park in
relation to conservation and monitoring. The main objective of the study was to assess the
influence of conducted research on Nyungwe National Park towards improving its conservation
and monitoring. Qualitative data was collected from local community from three sectors, park
staff and researchers who conducted research on NNP, and field visits were done to acquire data
for this study. The findings from the research indicated that previous research informed
policymakers who took some managerial decisions such as making trails, construction of
Nyungwe canopy walk way, rehabilitation of buffer zones, training guides and guards, increasing
community awareness, upgrading Nyungwe to a National Park level, tourism revenue sharing,
and compensation of damaged crops for local community, establishment of Kitabi College of
Conservation and Environment Management (KCCEM) among others. These changes occurred
as a result of new policies, laws and regulations developed and implemented. We recommend
that PAs managers consider all relevant recommendations from conducted research and establish
a platform for sharing researchers’ results for effective conservation.
