Burundi
My subject for Burundi is Léonidas Nzigiyimpa, conservationist and forestry professional, along with being founder and legal representative of Conservation and Community of Change
About Burundi
Burundi is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border.
The primary environmental concerns in Burundi are the unregulated depletion of natural resources including by deforestation along with soil erosion making the country more vulnerable to climate change exacerbated events such as flooding
About Léonidas
Léonidas is known for his tireless efforts sometimes at risk to his own personal safety to boost biodiversity conservation, food security and living standards of communities in his country.
Among other achievements, Léonidas led a ground-breaking initiative to involve indigenous peoples in sustainable forest management. He reached out to a community of 130 Batwa indigenous people who had been living on the streets of the city of Bururi in precarious conditions. Following his guidance they learnt how to protect the forest and its wildlife. They earnt a salary, formed an association, pooled their savings, opened a bank account, and eventually purchased three hectares of land on the Bururi Nature Reserve, where they built their own houses and became the guardians of the forest, which has long been threatened by illegal logging. This experience is now replicated in other protected areas of Burundi.
Léonidas founded the association Conservation and Community of Change (CCC) in 2019 in order to further involve the community in the protection of biodiversity.
In 2018 Léonidas was awarded the prestigious Buffett Award for Leadership in Conservation
Watch the portrait's story below
This video shows the painting process, and tells some of Léonidas's story.
![Img 20220513 093233[1]](/img/4d7ef320-634e-4be4-a513-71d753697c4a.webp)
