Two impoverished African countries who have been entangled in years of tribal warfare have managed to take a positive step toward preserving our planet and its creatures. Trans-national preserves are rare and difficult to establish even between friendly neighbors, but endangered wildlife knows nothing of man's map lines and armed conflict. Rwanda and Burundi signed an agreement on September 10th creating the largest preserve of East African mountain forest, the Nyungwe-Kibira Landscape. The agreement was reached with the conciliation of the New York Bronx Zoo affiliated Wildlife Conservation Society. The society has been working on preserving habitat in the Albertine Rift area since the 1950s. According to experts, the Nyungwe-Kibira Landscape is inhabited by more wildlife species than anywhere else in the Albertine Rift--a network of valleys in Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Tanzania that lie alongside some of Africa's largest mountain ranges. The rift is considered a prime conservation area that is threatened by illegal harvesting of bamboo and timber, along with mining of gold and coltan. A derivative of coltan is used in consumer electronics products such as cell phones, DVD players, and computers. The mountain forests are also home to endangered primates including chimpanzees. Conservation officials from the two countries recognized the need for trans-boarder habitat preservation, and by creating the parks are setting an example for the rest of Africa.[photo credit: ENS/ Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda]