Socio-economic Development in the AR and its Impact on the Environment

Society has to constantly make decisions over the allocation of resources to balance the short-run and long-run costs and benefits of forest and biodiversity
conservation. With the need to accelerate socioeconomic development in the Albertine rift region,the governments of the different countries spanning
the rift are faced with the dilemma of striking a healthy balance between the quest for rapid socioeconomic development and conserving biodiversity.
Doing this at the local, national and international level is quite complex and dynamic. To accelerate development and to combat problems of poverty and
food insecurity in the region, human activities are increasing and consequently posing various degrees of threats to biodiversity. In the past, the main threats consisted of conversion of the natural habitat to tea, coffee and pyrethrum plantations and to both large and small scale farms. In recent years, the main
threats are coming from the consequences of a rapidly expanding human population paralleled with growing demand for land, pasture (grazing) and
water. This pressure means that in many places, land has been transformed right up to the boundaries of the protected areas. This analysis gives a synopsis of
numerous human activities in the Albertine rift that have implications for biodiversity conservation.