The development of this Management and Development Plan for the Malagarazi Nature Reserve therefore reinforces its protection by providing guidance on the mode of governance, management systems of the reserve, mechanisms for participation in management and development activities, etc.

This Management and Development Plan was developed based on the guidelines of the “Study of governance methods and categories of current and future protected areas in Burundi” made as part of the country support project for the implementation of the Work Programme on Protected Areas of the Convention on Biological Diversity, under the funding of GEF/UNDP.

According to this study, the Malagarazi Nature Reserve is under the governance of “Co-management” between the State and the Communities. For this very reason, this Management and Development Plan is the result of extensive consultation and coordination between the government and local communities.

The methodology that guided the development of this plan followed several steps. Initially, a two-day meeting was held with community representatives and other stakeholders at the level of Makamba and Rutana provinces, Bukemba, Kayogoro and Giharo communes, and at the census hill level. It was in this meeting that hills that should be concerned by the conservation activities of the Reserve were targeted. The participants in the meeting also defined a method for electing representatives who should participate in the future meeting to develop the Management and Development Plan.

In a second step, meetings were organized at the level of the targeted hills whose participants were the entire population convened by the communal administrations. After explanations of the State's new guidelines in the management of the Malagarazi Nature Reserve by the Curator of this protected area, the communities elected their representatives at the future meeting.

Thirdly, it was necessary to organize a six-day meeting with the elected representatives of the communities to draw up the Management and Development Plan for the Malagarazi Nature Reserve. The methodology used was a participatory diagnosis based on a guide document for the development of management and development plans prepared for this purpose.

The present management and development plan is therefore a consensus document between the State and the communities and is the result of a highly inclusive participatory process. The implementation of this plan is therefore the mission of all stakeholders. However, the Government of Burundi must play the leading role in these activities for the conservation of this protected area and the development of human environments bordering on it.