Nyungwe National Park, a tropical montane rainforest, includes many species of birds and mammals that are endemic to the Albertine Rift and about 13 species of primates. It is a biodiversity hotspot, therefore strict and strategic measures are needed in the pursuit long-term conservation goals. The chimpanzee is an endangered species of primates known from the Park and attracts many researchers in the Nyungwe tropical ecosystem. This species is however not the only primate of particular conservation concern. The Hamlyn’s monkey Cercopithecus hamlyni is another species of primate in Nyungwe that attracts attention of conservation and wildlife scientists because of its restricted range and its selectivity of bamboo habitat. People have been threatening the habitat of the species by illegally cutting bamboo in the Park and different measures have been attempted by the Park managers and their collaborators in education and providing incentives to people. The incentives offered to the local community include the activity of bamboo planting in community fields as alternative options. We realized that there is a pressing need of assessing the impact of past measures and incentives to understand the current situation. With a subsequent inspection of the status of current threats, we will derive a clear conception of prospective sustainable measures.

In this conservation project, a first session will be devoted to collecting information on conservation actions that have been impacting the Hamlyn’s monkey and its bamboo habitat; communication, questionnaires, interviews, and observations will be used to complete that task. In a second session we will collect information on perception and impact of incentives focusing especially on bamboo planting by the community; this will be completed using mainly site surveys, observations, questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews. A third session will focus on data on threats and their consequences on the long-term survival of the Hamlyn’s monkeys; data will be collected though fields surveys in the forest using datasheets.

The completion of the project will be achieved by workshops at site and national level. This work is very important to supplement previous efforts and strengthen future measures towards sound habitat management, species monitoring, and livelihood security which is contributing to the ultimate goals of Park’s management. We expect that the results will inform Park management on adaptive measures, mitigation of illegal activities, best knowledge of the importance attached to the species, and more robust future conservation projects at the site.