Pressure on Kibira National Park from tea farms and development ^{CEFR B2}

Tea plantations, infrastructure projects and large-scale land use by local communities, production companies and state institutions such as the Burundi Tea Office (OTB), REGIDESO, ISABU and DPAE are reducing forest cover in and around Kibira National Park in northwest Burundi. The park, one of Burundi’s three national parks, lies near areas where the Mpanda hydroelectric power station is under construction. Observers say wildlife has been lost or forced to move as a result.

According to the Third National Communication on Climate Change (October 2019), Kibira lost an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 hectares of tree cover between 2009 and 2019. Six years later, exact levels of deforestation remain unclear. Studies and local reports suggest the park now holds more than 200 chimpanzees, a decline from about 500 before major deforestation. A 2013 scientific article by Dismas Hakizimana and Marie-Claude Huynen reported that some chimpanzees died and others moved from Rwegura, Teza and Musigati to the Mabayi area next to Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda.

The Burundi Tea Office plantation on the high plateaus employs more than 1,000 salaried workers and 7,500 to 8,000 day labourers. Ecologist Léonidas Nzigiyimpa says workers make noise, leave waste, pick wild strawberries and sometimes enter the park illegally. The NGO Conservation and Community Change (3C) reports more traps as development and population increase. Experts warn that fenced plantations block chimpanzee movements, reduce contact between groups and limit mating, and that slow reproduction will hamper recovery. Authorities note the park is guarded 24 hours and illegal entrants can be arrested. Researchers urge poverty reduction, new local income projects, training and active community involvement to protect Kibira's biodiversity.