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Conference Poster
Taking Action in Conservation of Mountain Rainforests
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
CONCLUSION
DISCUSSION
Acknowledgements.References
Identify and collect species
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Record field data
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Take field photography
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Press plant
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Dry plant
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Mount and label specimen
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Barcode specimen
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Database and photograph specimen
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Publish data and store in collection
Workflow - Making a Plant Specimen
1) Chase, M.W., Christenhusz, M.J.M., Fay, M.F., Byng, J.W., Judd, W.S., Soltis, D.S., Mabberley, D.J.,
Sennikov, A.N., Soltis, P.S. and P. F. Stevens. 2016. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group,
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 181, Issue 1, May 2016, Pages 1–20.
We would like to thank the Sud Expert Plantes Développement Durable (SEP2D) program for
financial support for updating, databasing, and digitizing specimens of the National
Herbarium of Rwanda. Our thanks go to former CoEB staff including Raymond Umazekabiri,
Brave Yambabariye, Diana Akundwe, Vedaste Minani and many student interns for the
fruitful collaboration and contribution to the herbarium redevelopment.
The National Herbarium is a treasure of plant
and fungi diversity over time since it was
created in 1953. Now with more than 20,000
specimens, its serves as an important
resource for teaching and research. With a
grant from SEP2D, the CoEB was able to
upgrade and digitize the NHR, which is
officially registered in Index Herbariorum, the
international directory of global herbaria.
Future research is now focusing on specific
species checklists of our 4 National Parks as
well as a species gap analysis, so we may
more strategically collect under-represented
plant species in Rwanda. Additional efforts
are underway to train more students in
museum collection management and
specimen collecting through short-term
internships and grant funded projects.
Lessons learned from the herbarium
redevelopment are now being applied to
other taxonomic groups to create new
specimen-based collections of mosses,
lichen, fungi, fishes, insect, reptiles, small
mammals, and invertebrates at the
University of Rwanda.
Aime Sandrine Uwase,
Pascal Sibomana, Beth Kaplin and
Michael B Thomas
coebiodiversity.ur.ac.rw
nhr@ur.ac.rw
Development of the National Herbarium of Rwanda
“Documenting plant diversity in mountain rainforests and the Albertine Rift region”
The herbarium has been renovated and
modernized to secure the preservation of the
specimens. The collection currently contains
more than 20,000 specimens from 204 families,
922 genera representing 2,044 plant species
across all provinces in Rwanda (Figure 4).
Recent Rwandan collectors include Joseph
Mvukiyumwami, Elias Bizuru, Raymond
Umazekabiri, Aime Sandrine Uwase, and Pascal
Sibomana. Foreign contributors include G.
Troupin, G. Bouxin, M. Radoux, G. Michel, B.
Runyinya, P. Auquier, P. van der Veken, J. Raynal,
J. Lambinon, A.R. Christiaensen, and P. Bamps.
The NHR publicly provides both historic and
new published data that can be used to
conserve biodiversity, document effects of
climate change on plant diversity, and
support species conservation throughout
Rwanda and the Albertine Rift region. New
specimen data and discoveries will also open
up new avenues and directions for future
collaborative research efforts and studies.
1) Since 2020, the staff initiated databasing
and digital photography to provide public
access to the specimen data.
2) Update specimen nomenclature for plant
families following the Angiosperm
Phylogeny Group IV classification. (Chase et
al., 2018).
3) Database all specimen labels and preformed
data cleaning.
4) Digitize specimens.
5) Publish data to public and scientific
community through open source software.
6) Initiate new specimen field collecting
through summer school training and funded
grants.
The National Herbarium of Rwanda (NHR) was created in 1953 and since 2019 it is managed by the Center of
Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management (CoEB) at University of Rwanda in Huye. NHR holds
more than 20,000 unique, historical botanical specimens, many collected from mountain rainforest regions. The
CoEB is digitizing the collection and upgrading the collections storage capacity so it continues to serve as a scientific
research resource for the conservation of plant biodiversity in the region.
Figure 4: Specimen Distribution by Province in Rwanda.
6863
5493
3950
1027 157
WESTERN
EASTERN
SOUTHERN
NORTHERN
KIGALI
Figure 1: NHR staff in the herbarium
© Michael B Thomas
Figure 3 :NHR staff during specimen identification
Figure 2: NHR staff on field trip in Nyungwe National park