OUR STORY

From Bystander to Guardian: My Journey with Green Safaris"

Growing up near Akagera National Park in Kayonza district, I witnessed two painful truths:

tourism that didn’t benefit us as local community, and poachers who stole from the wild.

Luxury safari trucks would roar past our village, leaving only dust, while poachers slipped

through the bush, leaving behind butchered animals. The meat would appear in our markets,

the tusks and skins vanished, and the tourists. They never knew.

I remember the day I decided things had to change. A young buffalo, killed by our close

neighbors called Iyakaremye and his brother late Bahigi for nothing more than a few francs’

worth of meat, lay rotting near the park boundary with excuses that park was their source of

making a living. That same evening, I watched a convoy of tourists return to their hotel, sipping

drinks as the sun set over our land they admired but didn’t truly help protect.

The Birth of Green Safaris

I refused to accept this broken cycle. If tourism could exploit, it could also heal.

So, I founded Green Safaris company then after its foundation built on three promises:

• Protect the Wildlife: no tolerance for poaching. We hire former hunters as rangers, fund anti-poaching units, and ensure every tour supports conservation.
• Uplift the People: no more "safaris that leave communities behind." Our eco-company employ local guide, we partner with hotels that use meals from local produce, and a share of profits funds schools and youth startup businesses, women cooperatives projects.
• Better planet: no more fossil fuels. We use electric cars where it is possible, bikes, hiking and focus on adventure tours, eco-community activities and volunteering in different conservation activities to avoid distraction of environment.

How It Works

• Guided by Those Who Know Best: Former poachers now guide tourists, (where Iyakaremye today is working with Green Safaris to conserve and protect wildlife) sharing their deep knowledge of animal tracks and behaviors, this time to protect, not kill.
• Waste to Wealth: Plastic collected from park boundaries and lake Kivu is transformed into crafts sold in our eco-shops, creating jobs and cleaning the land.
• The Lion’s Share Stays Local: For every guest who visits, we plant trees, train a wildlife scout, or support a women’s projects cooperative.
• The Green safaris’ voice is sounding loudly: our advocacy for nature, wildlife and planet is more than a responsibility but a devotion because we need it more that it needs us.

Today, with partnership from government and other conservation players; Akagera’s wildlife is

rebounding. The same hands that once set snares now build beehives to deter elephants from

crops, turning conflict into honey profits. Tourists don’t just pass through; they participate,

joining patrols, planting trees, and learning from the people who call this place home.

The land is healing. The community is thriving. And every time I see a child point to a big five

and say, "That’s our future,"; I know, this is what conservation truly means and that’s what I

expect for the next generation.

VISION

A world where tourism heals nature instead of harming it

MISSION

To protect wildlife, empower communities, and inspire travelers through sustainable tourism