Small Collections Grant

The incorporation of new specimens in National Herbarium of Rwanda requires fieldwork. The collection of specimens will be done in different ecological zones of Rwanda including the four protected areas (Nyungwe, Akagera, Volcano and Gishwati-Mukura National Parks), and non-protected natural ecosystems (wetlands, forest fragments) and cultivated ecosystems. The four national parks are surrounded by human-dominated mostly agricultural landscapes interspersed with wetlands, riparian zones, hedgerows and forest fragments. We will work with Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in order to obtain permits to sample in national parks. District managers will be consulted to sample in the areas outside the national parks. We will work with park managers, district leaders and botanists for accessibility and identification of specimens. We will work with local climbers to access plant material in the canopy as needed. Students from botany and conservation option at the University of Rwanda will be involved for capacity building and field assistance to the project and also to increase awareness of the herbarium and its importance. Currently, many of the undergraduate thesis projects require the deposition of voucher specimens. Research projects in the national parks plant collections, and therefore, there is always a student on a project, somewhere, collecting plants. Furthermore, we will work with the herbarium at Karisoke Research Center for further collaboration.