Human–Wildlife Conflict in Burundi (2026): Causes and Solutions

Quick answer: Human–wildlife conflict in Burundi is best understood as a livelihood, land-use and conservation challenge rather than simply an animal-management problem. The available research identifies habitat pressure, weak links between conservation and local development, and the economic vulnerability of rural households as central concerns; current responses include community-based conservation, ecological-corridor planning and strengthened protection in Kibira National Park .

Last reviewed August 2026. Conservation data changes — see the cited sources for the latest figures.

Why human–wildlife conflict matters in Burundi

Human–wildlife conflict occurs when contact between people and wild animals causes injury, death, crop or livestock losses, property damage, habitat damage or retaliatory killing. The International Fund for Animal Welfare describes conflict as a result of overlapping human and wildlife needs and argues that responsibility for reducing its consequences rests primarily with people, because human land-use decisions create much of the pressure .

In Burundi, the issue is inseparable from the condition of forests, wetlands and other remaining wildlife habitat. The country’s Kibira National Park is the focus of a United Nations Capital Development Fund Nature Investment Facility project that links forest conservation with peacebuilding, green investment and local leadership . The same project recognises the cultural, spiritual and economic importance of the forest to Batwa communities, making clear that conservation outcomes cannot be separated from community rights and livelihoods .

Burundi also sits within a wider Great Lakes conservation landscape. A partnership between the Denver Zoological Conservation Alliance and the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association supports a transboundary coalition covering Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi to protect grey crowned cranes and the wetlands on which they depend . This matters because wildlife does not follow national boundaries: wetland degradation, farming pressure and wildlife-related disputes can affect both protected sites and the communities around them.

The scale of the economic risk can be particularly severe for households living close to wildlife habitat. A global assessment published in Nature Sustainability identified Burundi among the African countries where a single carnivore predation event could impose an exceptionally large burden on household income; in the assessment, vulnerable communities in the most affected countries could lose all or more than twice their annual per-capita income if one calf were killed . The study is not a Burundi incident count, but it explains why even an isolated livestock loss can have major conservation consequences.

Which animals and habitats are involved?

The supplied evidence does not provide a national incident database that ranks Burundi’s conflict species by number of attacks, nor does it provide a verified nationwide total for crop losses, livestock depredation or human casualties. It would therefore be misleading to claim that one species is definitively responsible for most conflict in the country.

What the research does show is a set of relevant conservation contexts:

• Grey crowned cranes and wetlands: the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association and Denver Zoological Conservation Alliance identify habitat loss, illegal wildlife trade and human–crane conflict among the threats facing grey crowned cranes in the transboundary landscape that includes Burundi .
• Forest wildlife around Kibira: conservation and peacebuilding work in Kibira is designed around forest protection, community participation and the deployment of government park rangers managed by Burundi’s Office for Environmental Protection, known as OBPE .
• Carnivores and livestock: the global economic-burden study includes Burundi among countries where livestock losses to carnivores can be disproportionately damaging to household finances . It does not identify a Burundi-specific predator, species population or annual loss total.
• Wildlife outside formal protected areas: international conservation experience shows that coexistence measures often need to operate where people and animals share agricultural and community land, not only inside national parks .

This distinction is important for visitors searching for a wildlife safari or a wildlife safari park. A protected area is not an isolated island: its ecological health depends partly on what happens in buffer zones, farms, wetlands and corridors outside its formal boundary.

The main drivers of conflict

Habitat loss and fragmentation

When forests, wetlands and movement routes are converted or degraded, wildlife and people are pushed into closer contact. The Aaranyak conservation organisation identifies habitat and corridor loss, together with growing human pressure on limited space, as major drivers of human–elephant conflict in its South Asian field context . Those mechanisms are not Burundi-specific statistics, but they are directly relevant to understanding why corridor planning and land-use management matter in any densely settled landscape.

In Burundi, Savage Lands proposes an ecological corridor spanning the country, combining wildlife and flora conservation with sustainable land management and stronger community connections to nature . Its listed activities include planting fruit trees, assisted natural regeneration on Mount Ganza, indigenous-tree restoration and community awareness in Mpakanira, Baraga, Shuza, Kabonga and Mperehere . The initiative is evidence of a proposed restoration approach, not proof that a national corridor has already been completed.

Livelihood losses

Crop damage, livestock predation and lost access to natural resources can undermine food security and household income. The global assessment on the unequal burden of conflict found that poorer communities bear much higher proportional costs than wealthier communities, and that more than half of the world’s largest carnivore species have a substantial share of their habitat overlapping economically vulnerable human communities .

For Burundi, the practical implication is clear: a conservation policy that protects animals while leaving affected households without prevention tools, fair participation or credible support risks weakening local backing for protected areas. A 2025 evaluation of a cross-regional wildlife-conservation programme reached a similar conclusion, reporting that human well-being and livelihoods needed to feature more prominently and that human–wildlife conflict had not been sufficiently integrated into programme design .

Illegal wildlife trade and retaliation

Illegal wildlife trade is identified as a threat to grey crowned cranes in the Rwanda–Uganda–Tanzania–Burundi landscape . Conflict can also produce retaliatory killing, while illegal hunting and bushmeat activity can add further pressure to wildlife populations. However, the research supplied for this article does not contain a verified Burundi-wide poaching total or a reliable annual figure for retaliatory killings. Responsible reporting must acknowledge that evidence gap rather than substitute figures from other African countries.

Climate and environmental change

The available Burundi-specific sources emphasise habitat restoration, wetland protection and sustainable land management rather than providing a quantified climate-impact assessment. Environmental change can nonetheless intensify competition for water, food and safe habitat; this article treats that as a risk requiring monitoring, not as a measured national trend. Future conflict planning should combine ecological monitoring with community reporting so that changes in rainfall, wetland condition, crop patterns and wildlife movement are assessed together.

What is being done to reduce conflict?

Community Conservation Champions

The Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association and Denver Zoological Conservation Alliance support a transboundary Community Conservation Champion programme . Champions are local people who monitor crane breeding sites, engage farmers, support wetland protection and help reduce human–wildlife conflict . This model matters because it places observation, communication and practical problem-solving within communities rather than relying exclusively on distant institutions.

Ecological restoration and corridor planning

The Savage Lands Burundi initiative proposes three connected strands of work: planting fruit trees that can provide community resources, assisted natural regeneration on Mount Ganza using indigenous trees, and awareness and protection activities led with communities in named localities . Restoration cannot eliminate conflict on its own, but reconnecting habitat and improving land management may reduce the pressure created when wildlife is forced into farms or settlements. The initiative’s published material should be read as a project plan and activity description, not as an independently verified measure of conflict reduction.

OBPE ranger deployment and co-management

The Kibira Forest Sanctuaries Project supports a newly deployed ranger force managed by OBPE and links park protection with peacebuilding and investment in nature-positive businesses . A related peace-forest project document describes government responsibility for defining the role and needs of the OBPE Kibira park office and rangers, alongside recruitment, training and equipment and consultation with communities .

Effective ranger work should include more than patrols. International ranger guidance stresses the importance of professional training, ecological monitoring, community relationships, sustainable funding and safeguards against abusive or excessively paramilitary approaches . In a conflict-affected landscape, trust is a conservation asset: residents need safe channels to report wildlife incidents, raise grievances and distinguish wildlife protection from enforcement that disregards community rights.

Nature-positive finance

The UNCDF project is testing a financial model involving clean energy, ecotourism, payments for ecosystem services and the Kibira Foundation, with local leadership intended to support biodiversity conservation over the long term . Such mechanisms may help reduce dependence on short project cycles, but the supplied reporting does not establish that they have already produced a measurable reduction in conflict or delivered a quantified income increase to affected households.

Results and remaining setbacks

Area	Evidence of progress	What remains uncertain or difficult
Wetlands and cranes	Community Champions monitor breeding sites, work with farmers and support wetland protection .	The research does not provide a Burundi-specific change in conflict incidents or a national crane-population trend .
Kibira National Park	OBPE ranger capacity, peacebuilding and nature-positive finance are being developed through a project running from 2023 to 2028 .	Long-term financing, community trust, security and fair benefit-sharing remain essential implementation challenges .
Landscape restoration	Proposed actions include fruit-tree planting, indigenous-tree regeneration and awareness work in named communities .	The available source does not independently verify completed ecological-corridor outcomes or conflict reductions .
Regional conservation programming	Evaluations recognise the importance of community scouts and local concerns in conservation work .	A cross-regional evaluation found that human well-being and conflict had not been sufficiently integrated into programme design .

The balanced conclusion is that Burundi has promising building blocks, especially community participation around wetlands, corridor restoration and stronger institutional capacity in Kibira. The setbacks are equally important: public evidence remains fragmented, conflict is not consistently measured, and conservation programmes can fail when livelihood needs are treated as secondary. Success should be judged through transparent indicators such as verified incident trends, response times, household losses, compensation or prevention outcomes, wildlife survival and community perceptions—not simply the number of patrols or trees planted.

Community and tourism’s role

Tourism can contribute to conservation when visitor spending is connected transparently to local employment, protected-area management, habitat restoration and community priorities. The Kibira project explicitly aims to grow nature-positive tourism and turn the forest’s natural assets into sustainable development opportunities . That is a potential pathway, not a guarantee: tourism revenue benefits conservation only when governance, distribution and monitoring are clear.

Travellers should also avoid treating communities as attractions. The phrase “human safari” should never mean observing people as if they were wildlife. Ethical travel means seeking consent, paying fairly for guiding and cultural services, respecting photography rules and supporting locally led conservation. Travellers can book conservation-supporting safaris on SafariFind while asking operators how their spending reaches parks, guides and neighbouring communities.

Burundi’s attractions extend beyond wildlife viewing. Forest, wetland and landscape visits—including destinations such as Mugara Burundi Forest Reserve—should be planned with current local guidance, permitted routes and respect for sensitive habitats. Do not approach wildlife, enter restricted areas, feed animals or publish the locations of vulnerable breeding sites.

How travellers can help responsibly

• Choose guides and operators that explain their conservation partnerships, community benefits and environmental rules.
• Ask whether park or excursion fees support OBPE, local conservation organisations or community priorities, and request a clear explanation rather than assuming that every fee does so.
• Keep a safe distance from wildlife and follow ranger instructions, especially around wetlands, breeding sites and forest edges.
• Never buy wildlife products, keep wild animals as souvenirs or encourage photographs involving handling or baiting animals.
• Respect Batwa communities and all other residents as rights-holders and partners, not scenery for a wildlife safari.
• Report suspected wildlife crime or dangerous encounters through official local channels; do not confront suspected offenders yourself.
• Support credible organisations whose reports explain activities, safeguards, funding and measurable outcomes.

Burundi’s human–wildlife conflict challenge will not be solved by enforcement alone. The strongest approach combines habitat connectivity, wetland and forest restoration, reliable local reporting, professional and accountable rangers, fair livelihood benefits and conservation decisions made with the people who live alongside wildlife. That is the standard visitors, funders and conservation organisations should expect in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the current status of human–wildlife conflict in Burundi in 2026?

Human–wildlife conflict remains an important conservation and livelihood challenge in Burundi, but the supplied research does not provide a verified national incident total. Current responses focus on community conservation, wetland protection, ecological corridors and stronger ranger capacity in Kibira National Park .

Which animals are involved in human–wildlife conflict in Burundi?

The available evidence specifically identifies grey crowned cranes and their wetland habitats in the transboundary landscape that includes Burundi, while a global study identifies Burundi as highly vulnerable to livestock losses caused by carnivores . It does not provide a reliable national ranking of conflict species.

How does habitat loss cause human–wildlife conflict in Burundi?

Habitat loss and fragmentation reduce the space and movement routes available to wildlife, increasing the chance that animals enter farms or settlements. Burundi’s proposed ecological-corridor and restoration work is intended to improve sustainable land management and reconnect nature with communities .

What is being done to protect wildlife around Kibira National Park?

The Kibira Forest Sanctuaries Project supports peacebuilding, nature-positive investment and a ranger force managed by Burundi’s Office for Environmental Protection, or OBPE . A related project document describes recruitment, training, equipment and community consultation for park rangers .

Do communities benefit from wildlife conservation in Burundi?

Some programmes are designed to create community benefits through local conservation roles, nature-positive businesses, ecotourism and proposed payments for ecosystem services . However, the research also warns that conservation programmes can lose local support when livelihoods and human well-being are not adequately addressed .

Are there official statistics on human–wildlife conflict in Burundi?

The research supplied for this article does not contain a verified nationwide database of crop losses, livestock losses, injuries, deaths or retaliatory killings in Burundi. Claims about national totals should therefore be checked against current government or project monitoring data before publication.

Can tourism help reduce human–wildlife conflict in Burundi?

Tourism can help when revenue supports protected-area management, local employment, habitat restoration and community priorities. The Kibira project explicitly aims to develop nature-positive tourism, but the available evidence does not yet prove a quantified reduction in conflict caused by tourism .

How should visitors behave around wildlife in Burundi?

Visitors should follow ranger instructions, keep a safe distance, avoid feeding or baiting animals, respect restricted areas and never buy wildlife products. They should also treat local residents as conservation partners rather than tourist attractions.

What is the Community Conservation Champion programme?

It is a transboundary programme supported by the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association and Denver Zoological Conservation Alliance. Local Champions monitor crane breeding sites, engage farmers, support wetland protection and help reduce human–wildlife conflict across a landscape including Burundi .

What is Burundi’s proposed ecological corridor?

Savage Lands describes an initiative aiming to connect conservation and sustainable land management across Burundi. Listed actions include fruit-tree planting, assisted natural regeneration on Mount Ganza, indigenous-tree restoration and community awareness work in several named areas .