Team Member Profile

Dr Ange IMANISHIMWE, PhD

Executive Director

Professional Profile

Personal Insight

From a young age, I committed to creating a good change in my community by integrating biodiversity conservation, ecotourism, community health, agriculture, entrepreneurship, climate protection, and sustainable development in Rwanda. Named Top Young Innovator of Rwanda, 2012, I cofounded and serve as the Country Executive Director of Biodiversity Conservation Organization (BIOCOOR). I am the founder and CEO of a community based ecotourism project called Nyungwe EcoVillage. I have worked in The Nature Conservancy as a short term Consultant. In this role, I negotiated nearly 1,800,000 USD in grants and investments from the South Korean government, UNDP, The Van Tienhoven Foundation, The New Forests Company, and others to support my community. I am in the team of consultants who are developing the Rwanda Conservation Strategy and Master plan under the support of EU. I help the local cooperatives and local NGOs to develop the ecotourism center to promote the community livelihoods around the protected areas. I have served as a Tourist Guide in Nyungwe National Park at the Rwanda Development Board for four years. I have earned BSc in Zoology and Conservation and I have MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and my research focused on the contribution of ecotourism to the biodiversity conservation and livelihoods improvement. I completed a PhD in Biodiversity Management. I have created the social businesses to promote the sustainable development of Youth in Rwanda. In BIOCOOR we have the vision of putting Rwanda to the level of middle income countries by integrating biodiversity conservation, ecotourism, climate protection, community health, natural resources management, and sustainable development of Rwanda. I created 151 permanent jobs and 3700 part time jobs in my community and have built Dr IMANISHIMWE CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP CENTER around Nyungwe National Park and we are building the capacity in entrepreneurship, leadership, ecotourism, project management and biodiversity conservation for the students from African Leadership University and the University of Rwanda. We extended our Programs to the whole Southern Province and our Headquarter is in Huye. Our achievements in biodiversity conservation are remarkable, check our youtube channel. app=desktop ). I completed the training on Civic Leadership and Public Policy in the University of California, Berkeley in Goldman School of Public Policy. When I was in Washington, DC, I asked the question to President Barack Obama on climate change (watch the video). I was selected to be among 100 African Young Leaders to do the Professional Development Experience in the USA and my placement was in The Nature Conservancy in Boston, Massachusetts. I contributed to the community conservation program in Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences (watch the video ). The Mandela Washington Fellowship connected me to the professionals in Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Management. I was invited by Yale University in Connecticut and Antioch University New England in New Hampshire to give the presentations of my achievements in Rwanda. I was highly trained on Climate Change Mitigation and adaptation in Kenya, Germany, and Sweden. I am now the Consultant of Biodiversity study and monitoring in Nyungwe National Park buffer zone. BIOCOOR has the program of hosting young biologists in both academic and professional internships. We also integrate leadership and entrepreneurship in biological sciences, video. My plan is to extend my projects in East Arica in the next 5 years and create 15000 green jobs. my placement was in The Nature Conservancy in Boston, Massachusetts. I contributed to the community conservation program in Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences (video). The Mandela Washington Fellowship connected me to the professionals in Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Management. I was invited by Yale University in Connecticut and Antioch University New England in New Hampshire to give the presentations of my achievements in Rwanda. I was highly trained on Climate Change Mitigation and adaptation in Kenya, Germany, and Sweden. I am now the Consultant of Biodiversity study and monitoring in Nyungwe National Park buffer zone. BIOCOOR has the program of hosting young biologists in both academic and professional internships. We also integrate leadership and entrepreneurship in biological sciences, video. My plan is to extend my projects in East Arica in the next 5 years and create 15000 green jobs.