RFA, today, collated a resolute tree maintenance strategy and catch-up plan for AREECA project during a two-day workshop that took place at La Palisse Nyamata, a hotel based in Bugesera District.

The event brought together key actors in agriculture, natural resources, legal affairs and forestry sector in an attempt to put into effect maintenance plan by replacing damaged and dead saplings, and erecting fences to fend off livestock grazing through trees planted in mapped landscapes, and human encroachment which increasingly jeopardize the prosperity of the saplings and trees. 

Dr. Ivan Gasangwa, Head of Research at RFA, commended the relentless collaboration between the Rwanda Forestry Authority and stakeholders, enabling farmers to play a leading role in protecting the environment through planting and overseeing trees. He further articulated crucial points to implement in order to make the nation of a Thousand Hills evergreen.

“Planting the right tree for the right purpose in the right place.” We need to solve the very problem from the very root cause. I would advise considering tree species diversification when planning for tree planting, focusing on native tree species as they are highly resilient to climate change. “I believe this catch-up plan will take us in the right direction to go beyond our target,” he underscored, adding that RFA has been working hard and wisely to produce massively as many species of trees as possible to make the country greener.

The interactive workshop welcomed a mouthwatering discussion where participants articulated significant achievements in both districts, meaning Kirehe and Nyagatare- thanks to the support from AREECA project, an area of five thousand hectares has been planted and fully covered with wealthy trees- within just three years.

‘’To me, it is a long-awaited remedy.” “For degraded landscapes and areas that require so much attention, I see no better way than to erect fences around saplings to mitigate livestock disturbance,” said Emanuel Munanira, a participant and forester.

Taking place on 2^nd and 3^rd May 2024, the workshop was proposed thanks to the notion of the Bonn Challenge, aiming to restore at least two million hectares of forest and agricultural land.

Bonn Challenge

The Bonn Challenge is a global initiative which came into existence in 2011, and was adopted by the government of Rwanda to restore at least two million hectares of forest and agricultural land, with the goal of restoring 150 million hectares of the world's degraded and depleted land by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030. As part of these actions, the Alliance for the Restoration of Forest Landscapes and Ecosystems Project in Africa (AREECA) is carrying out a large-scale forest landscape restoration in Kirehe and Nyagatare Districts in eastern Rwanda, intending to enrich landscapes that foster biodiversity, climate change resilience and better livelihoods.  The project, AREECA, is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment of Germany, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), together with the Rwanda Forestry Authority.

AREECA project

The AREECA is a four years project until 2024, and it aims to restore the ecological functionality and biological productivity of the landscapes of the districts, of Kirehe and Nyagatare, to enhance their ability to adequately meet multiple objectives such as biodiversity conservation, climate change resilience and better livelihoods. Nyagatare and Kirehe remain the most degraded part of the country of a thousand hills, and adversely hit by climate change. And subsequently, the project intends to halve emissions of greenhouse gases, improve resilience of poor subsistence farmers as well as pastoralists to the diversity of climate change, and mitigate the loss of biodiversity-rich habitats.