Environmental Notebook | BATWA Dancers

Eco-Tourism Gives Ex-Poachers a New Chance

Dance is a way of Life: A Batwa traditional dancer.

58 |

| 59 January 2012

Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is a community- owned and operated “cultural village”, run by ex-poachers, that replicates traditional tribal life in Rwanda. By Jonathan Kalan

A ccording to legend in Rwanda, the Batwa people were born to dance. One evening, so the lore

goes, God found himself in need of lively entertainment and called on the people of heaven to dance. The first to begin were the Batwa (commonly known as Pygmies), who danced and howled and laughed well into the night until God was finally satisfied. He thanked his entertainment, permitting them to go home and retired to his quarters.

But the Batwa didn’t stop. They continued to dance until the early hours of morning, and, on multiple occasions, God was forced from his slumber, calling them to put a stop to it. Finally God had enough. In a fit of fury he reached out, picked each one of them up and flung them straight down to the earth below. They landed in

Hill country: A view of Iby’lwacu Cultural Village.

the Parc National Des Volcans (Volcanoes National Park) in Rwanda, started dancing and have never stopped.

Perhaps it’s true. Or perhaps it’s not. Fortunately for Leonidas Barora, a lively, 4-foot-10-inch 59-year-old toothless grinning Batwa tribe member from deep in park’s forest, at least one part is true;

he loves to dance. And it’s dancing that turned Leonidas from a poacher, who was responsible for the killing of countless animals inside the park, into a key part of a new model for environmental and cultural conservation in East Africa.

Established in 2005 with funding from Rwanda Eco-Tours Ltd., Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village is a community- owned and operated “cultural village”, run by ex-poachers, that replicates traditional tribal life in Rwanda.

As a park ranger in Parc National Des Volcans – one of Rwanda’s largest tourist destinations for being one of just a handful of places in East Africa where you can “track” families of mountain gorillas in their natural habitat – Edwin Sabuhoro, founder of Rwanda Eco-Tours, saw a painful situation playing out between the land, people, and animals. The problem? Poaching.

Like other famous National Parks in the region, such as the Masai Mara in Kenya, and Serengeti in Tanzania, the animals are a key element to attracting tourists. Yet for communities surrounding and in national

Finally God had enough. In a fit of fury he reached out, picked each one of them up and flung them straight down to the earth below. They landed in the Parc National Des Volcans (Volcanoes National Park) in Rwanda, started dancing and have never stopped ”

Turn to P60

parks, like Leonidas’ tribe, poaching the animals is simply a way of life, and, in many cases, the only way of life.

For these communities, the park’s wildlife is their primary source of food and income. While they struggle to earn a living under constant threats of being fined, jailed, and even shot at by park rangers, they are offered few alternatives. And, while the Parc National Des Volcans was only established in 1925, the people have been living there for centuries.

Edwin, who received a degree in Environmental Law prior to becoming a park ranger and was recently invited to the Young African Leaders Forum by President Obama for his work, realized that park management was far too “nature-centric”.

He felt there was too much focus on the conservation of the park, and too little effort to sustain the local people and communities that depend on it. He saw

a pressing need to create a more equal balance, and put an end to poaching by “using the people and their own land”.

So in 2005, Edwin simultaneously founded the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village, a community-owned-and- operated cultural village run by ex-poachers that replicates traditional tribal life in Rwanda, and Rwanda Eco-Tours, a for-profit eco-tourism company, to engage the private sector in animal, land and cultural conservation.

From the start he committed thousands of dollars to starting the Cultural Village, and has since committed 20% of Rwanda Eco-Tour’s profits to the village committee each year.

Launching the village, according to Edwin, was no easy task. Relationships between the poachers, the park officials, and the government had always been tense.

“They wanted to kill our method of survival”, one former poacher told me. While poaching was illegal, neither the

park nor government officials offered skills training, resources, or alternative methods of income generation for the people.

So when Edwin began approaching community elders of the Nyabigoma community, outside of Kinigi, Musanze District, Rwanda, about the possibility of a new path for their livelihoods, they were skeptical.

It wasn’t until he showed up one day with his life savings, $5,000, and a plan to help develop the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village and a village-run committee to manage it, that they began to listen.

As I wandered in to Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village, just kilometers from the Congo and Ugandan borders in northwestern Rwanda (an entrance fee of $20 per visitor goes to the village committee and helps sustain the programmes), I immediately noticed that the village didn’t feel fake, forced, or fabricated as perhaps one would expect.

The feeling was casual but energetic, and there was a visible sense of pride from the

They wanted to kill our method of survival ”

Environmental Notebook | BATWA Dancers

From P59

60 |

locals fulfilling their roles in a “traditional” village. They seemed genuinely excited to be representing their culture, and were interested as much in an “exchange of experience” with tourists as they were in earning income.

Immanuel, my tour guide and a university-educated native of the Nyabigoma community that comprises the cultural village, explained the reason for this.

“There’s no reason for them not to be happy,” he said, “Visitors are a blessing in our culture. We are happy for people to visit our country, come into our homes, and share our culture. This is a culture that has a warm welcome to visitors and we hope that foreigners will become ambassadors”.

When Immanuel was younger his father, a former poacher, once spent two months in prison for poaching. “It was the only way he could afford my school fees at the time,” Immanuel said.

When Edwin approached the community to begin the Cultural Village,

Airborne: A Batwa troupe

in full cry.

Immanuel, humorous, engaging, and very well spoken in English, was elected by the village to become the lead tour guide. Now, several years later, he is finishing a degree in Business Management at night while giving tours and continuing to promote his community during the day.

He has been to Japan for conferences on Community Based Tourism, and, seeing firsthand the changes in his community through the Cultural Village, has become an ambassador for sustainable Community Based Tourism in the region.

When asked about the business incentives for Rwanda Eco-Tours to be giving away 20% of its profit to the village, Edwin says he is “proud of a business that is advancing our country”.

He sees his company, which is one of about 10 that now brings tourists to the village, as working to protect its business interests through its contributions. “While

| 61 January 2012

Turn to P62

Environmental Notebook | BATWA Dancers

I started this business specifically to help develop and promote my country, at the same time protecting the animals and the parks is simply good for our business and our bottom line”, he says.

While tourism is one alternative to sustaining the community in the absence of poaching, it’s not the only one. The Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village only directly employs 30 people – dancers, singers, drummers, guides, herbal healers, metalworkers, and others.

As part of Rwanda Eco-Tour’s 20% commitment, over $30,000 has been invested in the village committee. These funds, in addition to the revenue generated from the entrance fees, donations, and handicrafts sold in the village, go towards developing infrastructure, skills training, and horticulture programmes in the community (around 1,000 people) that give people a chance to earn income without depending on tourism.

Through these programmes, a sense of entrepreneurship is now emerging from villagers. Rurengo Enock, 71, the “Herbal

Man” of Iby’Iwacu whose secret herbal remedies have actually been passed down through his family for generations, now owns cows, goats, and land to farm – things he never had before.

“Life has made a significant improvement since poaching”, he told me. Says one other local: “I have a house now, I have a bicycle now. I have a sheep now, but I want to have ten in five years”.

Out of the 1,000 community members of Nyabigoma around the Parc National Des Volcans, nearly all of whom were supported by poaching, perhaps only a few have continued to poach. In the Virunga Massif region, where Parc National Des Volcans is located, the mountain gorilla population has increased 26.3% since 2003.

One of the biggest changes, however, lies in the locals’ perception of their own destiny. They see the value of education, and understand the importance of sending their children to school instead of working on farms, or poaching. More importantly, they now have financial resources to do so.

Leonidas Barora, the lively Batwa pygmy dancer who most tourists will probably remember for years after their visit, broke out in laughter when I asked him if he had ever gone to school.

Growing up deep in the forest, he had no idea what a school was, what a teacher was, or what a formal education meant. Now, one of his sons just graduated from a local secondary school, and in fact was the first Batwa pygmy in the history of the entire district ever to do so.

From P61We’ve got rhythm: Batwa dancers and, inset, drummers, in action.

62 |

| 63 January 2012