The Burigi-Chato National Park (''Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Burigi-Chato'', In

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

) is a

Tanzanian Demographic features of the population of Tanzania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The population distribution in Tan ...

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

located the

Karagwe Karagwe is one of the eight districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Uganda, to the east by the Bukoba Rural District, to the southeast by the Muleba District, to the south by the Ngara District and to the w ...

Biharamulo District Biharamulo District is one of the eight districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Karagwe District and Muleba District, to the east and south by Geita Region, to the west by Ngara District, and to the southwest ...

Muleba District Muleba is one of the six districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Bukoba Urban and Bukoba Rural districts, to the south by Biharamulo District, to the east by Lake Victoria and to the west by Ngara and Karagwe ...

Kagera Region Kagera Region (''Mkoa wa Kagera'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 Regions of Tanzania, administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the land area of the Netherlands. Kagera Reg ...

and Chato of

Geita Region Geita Region (''Mkoa wa Geita'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 Regions of Tanzania, administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of ...

. With a total area of 4,707 square kilometers, Burigi-Chato is Tanzania's fourth-largest park and was designated a national park in 2019. From

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

in the east to the Rwandan border in the west, Burigi-Chato is a sizable region of uninhabited land. Hundreds of square kilometers of medium- and tall-grass wooded savanna, primarily Combretum and Terminalia known as

Miombo Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) chara ...

, are found there. The largest freshwater lake is

Lake Burigi Lake Burigi (originally Lueor-lo-Urigi, meaning "White Lake of Urigi") is an endorheic lake in the Karagwe district, Kagera Region of Tanzania. Parts of the lake and its shore are situated within the Burigi-Chato National Park. History Visited ...

, after which the park is named. Other features include long hills, rocky crags along escarpments, deeply set valleys lined with forest, open plains, swamps, rivers, flood plains, and deep valleys.

Unique flora

Zanthoxylum usambarense, Gardenia ternifolia, Faidherbia albida, Harrisonia abyssinica, Anona senegalensis, and Pappea capensis are six other rare plant species found at the Burigi-Chato National Park that have the potential to be used in the

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

industry.

Attractions

The lakes in this national park are a major attraction, with

being the third-largest lake in the nation. It is a long lake with several islands, inlets, and bays scattered throughout its length, some of which are swampy and home to the uncommon sitatunga antelope and perhaps even the even more elusive

shoebill The shoebill (''Balaeniceps rex''), also known as the whale-headed stork, and shoe-billed stork, is a large long-legged wading bird. It derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill. It has a somewhat stork-like overall form and has pre ...

stork. Every lake is situated along a winding valley that is covered in trees and sporadic palms. They offer peaceful surroundings, lovely options for boating and observing wildlife from the lake, as well as locations for camping and modest cabins. Along with the rangeland area to the north of the Katungo River and the Lake Mburo National Park of Uganda, Burigi-Chato National Park includes the other ecosystems of Rwanda like the Akagera National Park. Camping and canoeing is available.

References

{{Geita Protected areas of Tanzania Protected areas established in 1980 1980 establishments in Tanzania Geography of Kagera Region Important Bird Areas of Tanzania