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Date of lecture: March 26,2025
Abstract
Sustaining biological diversity and ecosystem services in the human dominated landscape of Rwanda: Looking forward through the past
The plight of Rwanda’s exceptional wildlife and diverse landscapes – from lush volcanic slopes to rolling shrubby savannah to wetlands – has been deeply intertwined with the nation’s socio-economic and political dynamics. Rwanda’s conservation story and its social and economic transformation journey is a tale of resilience, homegrown leadership and solutions and innovation.
The country’s progressive approach has seen the transformation of its national parks from once cultivated, mining and poaching-devastated lands to thriving ecosystems, home to mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, lions, rhinos, and elephants. Today, wildlife conservation is a national pride.
My presentation will share progress, challenges and lessons learned in restoring and managing Rwanda’s national parks over the past 30 years and the role wildlife conservation has played in economic and social transformation of the country after 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Bio
Dr. Michel Masozera was raised in Zaire now Democratic Republic of Congo but longed to return to his home country of Rwanda. He was able to fulfil that dream by working for WCS where he assumed a number of leadership positions in Rwanda for almost two decades until 2017. For the majority of that time, he was Director of the WCS Rwanda Program, leading the team that oversaw the creation of the Nyungwe National Park in 2004, one of the largest remaining montane forests in Rwanda and the wider Albertine Rift Region. He was awarded the National Geographic/Buffett Award for Leadership in African Conservation in 2004, following the creation of Nyungwe National Park.
He also spearheaded efforts to strengthen formal transboundary collaborations between Rwanda and Burundi in the conservation of the Nyungwe-Kibira landscape, mobilizing both political and donor support for this initiative. Using the knowledge and experience he gained from his PhD in ecological economics, he helped guide the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) and MacArthur Foundation to develop a natural capital accounting project that played a pivotal role in helping the Government of Rwanda fulfil key conservation policy commitments.
Dr. Michel Masozera is currently the Director of Policy and Partnerships for Africa at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The goal of this position is to enhance WCS Africa’s influence and impact in international and regional policy fora, and to capitalize upon bilateral and multilateral funding opportunities such as GCF and GEF. Prior to this position, Michel worked for WWF International from 2017 to 2020 as Deputy Wildlife Practice Leader and Innovation Lead for Africa, working primarily on the strategic design, implementation and evaluation of WWF’s wildlife conservation portfolio across the African continent.
He has over 25 years of experience working at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in Africa. He is a specialist in wildlife ecology and conservation, community-based natural resource management, program design and project management, protected area governance, and sustainable tourism development.
Dr. Masozera has a particular interest in inclusive conservation and the capacity building of civil society organizations and young African professionals. He holds an M.Sc. degree in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He is a board member of several organizations including the Akagera Management Company (AMC), which is a joint venture between the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and African Parks for the management of Akagera National Park.