1. Background

On April 8, 2000, the Association was approved by the Ministry of Interior by ministerial decree n^o. 530/231 as non-lucrative non-governmental organization, ruled by legislative decree n^o. 1/11 18 of April 1992 relating to non-lucrative associations, and under the name of Association Burundaise pour la protection des Oiseaux (Burundian Association for the protection of Birds), ABO acronym.

At that time, ABO immediately started to contribute to nature conservation in Burundi by working with riparian populations of large national protected areas to involve them in the enterprise of national biodiversity conservation. The best example is the 2003-2006 project on the conservation of Kibira National Park which involved the indigenous population of Batwa living around the northern part of the park.

However, 13 years later, on the dateof 7^thSeptember 2013, the General Assembly (GA) of the ABO, in the plenary session of anextraordinary meeting, unanimously decided to change the name of the Association withthe intention of better adapting it to the Association’s activity programs, which after all were aimed at the conservation of all components of the natural environment, even if with a particular focus on birds as an important indicator of the environmental health. ABO was henceforth changed into Association Burundaise pour la protection de la Nature (Burundian Association for the protection of Nature), ABN acronym, which still prevails today.

The ABN is mainly characterized by its democratic structure, strongly inspired by its international partners, such as BirdLife International and IUCN, in which, the Association enjoys a privileged status as collaborator. ABN is indeed governed by its GA, composed by all its full members, and which elects a Chairman at its head. Itsprogram activities are run by the Coordination Office (CO) led by an Executive Director. Between the CO and the GA, there is a Coordination Council that is comparable to the Board of Directors found elsewhere.