The Nile Basin Initiative has a vision of achieving sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable use of the Nile River's water resources. The Burundian Nile Basin Civil Society Forum is also committed to contributing to the rational and equitable management of natural resources in the Burundian Nile Basin through the protection of the environment and the fight against poverty.

The conservation of nature in general, and the conservation of the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve in particular, remain a concern not only of the Government of Burundi, but also of all actors involved in the protection of the environment, including civil society. Indeed, this reserve abounds not only with an invaluable wealth of fauna and flora but also is a real well from which multiple watercourses spring.

The Bururi Forest Nature Reserve, which ensures these various ecological and socio-economic functions, is officially governed by law number 1/10 of May 2011 relating to the management of protected areas in Burundi as well as previous laws relating to the delimitation of the protected area and the environmental code, as of 2000.

It is managed by the Burundian Office for Environmental Protection (OBPE), whose responsibilities include forest and environmental management. Initiatives to conserve natural resources in Burundi in general and those of RNFB in particular are often hampered by various problems, the most common of which are: the degradation of ecosystems following deforestation, encroachment, the extraction of quarries and minerals, the extraction of quarries and minerals, the research of medicinal plants, the research of medicinal plants, bush fires, the establishment of illicit crops,...

To these major problems are added the ignorance of the community about the multiple advantages that protected areas offer, which leads to irrational methods of management of these areas by stakeholders. Faced with this situation, the Burundian Forum of Civil Society in the Nile Basin (FCBN), in partnership with the Burundian Association for the Protection of Nature (ABN) and the Association for the Protection of Natural Resources for the Welfare of the Burundian Population (APRN/BEPB), have initiated a project entitled: “Integrated Management of Bururi Forest Nature Reserve”, also called “Integrated Management of Bururi Forest Nature Reserve”. It is in this context that the Burundian Forum of Civil Society in the Nile Basin (FCBN) commissioned a “Study on the conservation of nature in general and of the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve in particular”.

The objective of this study is to develop a document that can facilitate the coherence of interventions, the harmonization of approaches, the collaboration and coordination of associations and/or partners to achieve rational and integrated management of the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve. This document is also intended to be an advocacy tool for various actions related to the conservation and management of protected areas.