Forest Landscape Restoration Contributes to the Conservation of Primates in the Gishwati-Mukura Landscape, Rwanda

Land-use change is the main driver of habitat loss and fragmentation for primates, resulting in declines in species diversity and population size. The Gishwati-Mukura landscape in Rwanda, home to endemic and threatened primate species, is characterized by heavily degraded and fragmented forest fragments, including one remnant tropical montane forest, one restored forest, and several forests planted in the mid-1980s with exotic species. A landscape restoration project was launched in 2014 to restore and protect this landscape and improve human wellbeing. From June to August 2019, we assessed the use of remnant, restored, and exotic forest patches by primates in this landscape. Using 15 line transects and 7 reconnaissance surveys, we compared distribution and abundance of Endangered golden monkeys ( Cercopithecus mitis kandti ), Vulnerable L’Hoest’s monkeys ( Allochrocebus lhoesti ), and Endangered eastern chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi ) between remnant tropical montane forest and restored forest and ascertained the presence of primates in planted forest patches in the Gishwati-Mukura landscape. We interviewed farmers (N = 97) to assess the frequency of human-primate conflicts associated with the remnant and restored forests. We found that all three primate species occupied the remnant tropical montane forest, chimpanzees and golden monkeys occurred in the restored forest, and only golden monkeys inhabited the exotic planted forest fragments. For all three species, encounter rates were higher in the remnant tropical montane forest than in the restored and planted forest fragments. The restored forest provided additional habitat for primates, and efforts to restore degraded forest appear to have reduced conflicts between communities and primates.