Experts from various institutions, including state actors from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), along with non-state actors including prominent non-governmental organizations like WWF, IGCP, and various community-based organizations, as well as private sector representatives, convened as members of the GVTC Regional Technical Committees for a two-day conference in Rubavu, Republic of Rwanda, hosted at the Hill View Hotel on 22 and 23rd August 2024. The focus of the discussions was the advancement of tourism development and community conservation strategies within the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary ecosystem shared by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Rwanda, and the Republic of Uganda, where wildlife transcends national borders.

While opening the workshop, Mr. Fidele Ruzigandekwe, Deputy Executive Secretary for Programs, on behalf of Dr. Andrew Ggunga Seguya,  GVTC Executive Secretary, highlighted the role of the Regional Technical Committees in these terms: 

“The Regional Technical Committees constitute an important GVTC governance organ whose purpose is to play a consultative role and provide technical advice to the GVTC Board for decision-making through the Executive Secretariat. They also play a backstopping role to the GVTC Executive Secretariat, given the wide scope of technical and coordination issues that this Secretariat is mandated to implement in the areas of Landscape Management, Tourism Development, Community Conservation as well as the Law Enforcement”. 

He highlighted the importance of the points for discussion in of the Regional Technical Committee on Tourism Development and including:  

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the single East African (EA) tourism visa and its implications on tourism in the GVL. 

• Develop a framework for transboundary tourism development and infrastructure, including visitor briefing and debriefing services. 

• Propose a revenue-sharing arrangement and establish a platform for receiving and managing feedback from tourists visiting multiple countries. 

• Leverage technology to support tourism, including web-based and Android applications for tour guides, porters, and craft sellers. 

While the Community Conservation Regional Technical Committee is to focus on the following points: 

• Address human-wildlife conflict, particularly incidents of elephants crossing from one country to the other. 

• Explore community engagement strategies to enhance conservation efforts and ensure sustainable livelihoods for local communities. 

 The focus of the discussions was the advancement of tourism development and community conservation strategies within the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary ecosystem shared by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Rwanda, and the Republic of Uganda.  

The focus of the discussions was the advancement of tourism development and community conservation strategies within the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary ecosystem shared by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Rwanda, and the Republic of Uganda.  

In this Landscape shared by the three countries and where wildlife transcends national borders,  the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) established through  a Treaty, signed  by the three countries in 2015 offers a  platform where all parties share a common vision of conserving the shared resources within the Greater Virunga Landscape. 

The DRC Delegation who attended the GVTC Tourism Development and Community Conservation during the session of Rubavu, Rwanda on 22nd and 23rd August 2024.

During his opening remarks, Mr. Telesphore Ngoga, who represented the Rwanda Development Board, reiterated the Republic of Rwanda's strong commitment to transboundary Collaboration, given that the shared resources of the Greater Virunga Landscape remain and will remain the unwavering link between the communities, institutions, and respective administrative entities of the three countries.

Through the workshop, participants were invited  to provide strategic guidance on implementing the recently developed Greater Virunga Landscape Transboundary Strategic Plan, focusing on the two areas of interest, which are tourism development and Community conservation. 

Members of the Tourism Development and Community Conservation GVTC Regional Technical Committees paused for the group photo. Photo August 22,2024

The East Africa single Tourism visa is one of the key points on the meeting agenda, as GVTC is of the view that all the GVTC Partner States are at the same time Members of the East African Community. This can boost the tourism industry in this region, creating jobs and other development opportunities that will improve the socio-economic development of the communities and the countries at large. Much as this has started and is effective between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, there is a need to do much more. For example in terms of communication,  there is a need to inform the visitors that when you apply for this visa, it is mandatory to start your journey from the country you mentioned at the time of application; otherwise, when you mention that your tour will start from Rwanda and you land in Uganda, the visa loses its validity.

On the same matter, during the meeting, Mr. Alain Bokoso Mbo, Director at National Tourism Office of Democratic  shared clarifications on the position of  the Democratic Republic of Congo in these terms:

Implementing the Single Tourist Visa (STV) is one of the pillars of the Community of East African States (EAC) strategy for promoting and marketing the region's tourism destination. Unfortunately, this initiative is facing major constraints which are even observed within the countries that already use the Single Tourist Visa. These are the following:

• The issue of traceability of visas and the distribution of income according to the variable geometry method of 40-30-30 (40 USD for the country issuing the visa - 30 for the other two countries visited);
• Lack of a regularly updated platform;
• Several verification missions are required in the embassies of the EAC countries located near the major tourist visa-issuing countries.
• The study on the introduction of the EAC Single Tourist Visa system needs to be reviewed. It would be paramount to develop a common EAC Single Tourist Visa portal or establish hyperlinks with immigration portals so that all EAC States can see in real time all EAC Single Tourist Visas issued by any Member State.

The EAC has opened a door by encouraging the member states of the community to consider initiating bi- or trilateral agreements to promote the single tourism visa and support this initiative of the EAC single tourism visa in the East African Community. However, the position of DRC is that when this single tourism visa will be effective,  all EAC Member States should approve a visa application within five (5) days; if a Member State does not approve within 5 days, the visa will be automatically issued. The possibility for any Member State to veto an application, for security reasons within the 5 days should be implemented.

There should be a common basket for all revenues from EAC Single Tourist Visa where all revenues should be transferred to a centralised EAC bank account, which will then be transferred to the respective central banks of the countries visited.

EAC should update the study and include an additional study on how to assist new EAC tourism destinations (Burundi, DRC and South Susan) to accelerate the implementation process.

Human-wildlife conflicts remain at the center of issues that need the special attention of the Community Conservation GVTC Regional Technical Committee. In this respect, cases of transboundary movements of elephants from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda, where community gardens are affected, have been recorded.

Mr. Fidele Ruzigandekwe,  reiterated GVTC's sincere thanks to the three Governments for their will to uphold the transboundary cooperation for the sustainable conservation of the Greater Virunga Landscape, the Government of the Republic of Rwanda for hosting the meetings, and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through their Embassy of the Netherlands to Rwanda for making this journey possible through the provision of financial support since 2008.

Reporter: Juvenal Mukeshimana

Program Assistant