Luxury lodge in Rwanda
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
From the earliest stages in its development, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge has prioritised conservation of the natural environment. The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and its local partner The International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) were key partners in the development of the lodge. The lodge encourages guests to take the time to visit the operations of these remarkable organisations, and to take time to understand the extremely important work they are doing in the region.
Other conservation projects supported are:
- Contributing to wildlife conservation project in Gishwati Forest by providing technical advice to the Gishwati Forest Conservation Project in the development of eco tourism activities in the forest
- Assisted with the creation of two hiking trails through the forest
- Contributed to the promotion of Gishwati Forest as an eco tourism destination
- Provided one year of salaries and field costs for one the tracking teams supporting the habituation and field research of a group of Chimpanzees in the forest
- Provided field cameras to monitor the wildlife in Buhanga Forest
- The lodge was designed to use minimal amounts of electricity. Generators are run for just 6 hours per day and inverter systems (banks of powerful batteries) provide power to guest rooms 24 hours a day.
Community
The lodge has been designed and built by Governors’ Camp but is owned by a community trust called SACOLA. Governors’ Camp leases the lodge from SACOLA, and SACOLA will use rental and other income from Governors’ Camp to finance its socio-economic development and conservation objectives in the area. Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge is therefore an exciting combination of a top quality lodge and a power for driving socio-economic development and conservation in the areas adjacent to the Parc National des Volcans in Rwanda. SACOLA represents 6,000 households in the area, who use rental and other income from Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge to achieve conservation and socioeconomic objectives.
A number of projects have been made possible through incomes generated through the lodge:
- The creation of vegetable gardens for a community farming project
- The reconstruction of a local primary school for 1600 pupils including construction of 10 classrooms
- The construction and maintenance of local roads
- The building of homes for refugees from the genocide
- The rehabilitation of the road leading to the Community Cultural Centre
- The protection of water dispersal systems and erosion control
- The setting up of a tourist “Community Walk” enhancing local crafts and businesses
- The construction of a Community Cultural Centre
- The construction of water tanks and water collection points for the community
- Initiating a one family one cow program which provides cows to poor people in the local community
- The construction of two villages which house 126 formerly destitute farmers on the fringes of Parc National des Volcans in Rwanda. The village provides houses, water tanks and plots of land to people living close to the edge of the national park who are being resettled within the framework of the park extension project
- The creation of carpentry and other micro- enterprise workshops for the community
- The lodge provides direct benefits to the local community in the form of employment opportunities; approximately 70% of the staff are from nearby communities.
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