Reviving Rwanda: How GEF’s Support is Transforming Environmental Recovery and Sustainability

While the CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, is in Rwanda to discuss conservation efforts and climate change adaptation strategies with government officials, Juliet KABERA, the Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), revealed that Rwanda initiated its first project with GEF in 2006 and has maintained a strong relationship since then.

GEF has consistently provided funding for ecological restoration projects in Rwanda, addressing environmental degradation following the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Juliet emphasized the importance of this intervention, stating that without it, Rwanda would already be a desert due to significant environmental degradation caused by the return of Rwandans after the genocide.

She highlighted the Green Amayaga region project as one of the collaborative efforts with the GEF, where they provided resources to address biodiversity loss in the southern part of the country. The project included integrated efforts for erosion control, agroforestry tree planting, and rehabilitation of wood-locking forests, focusing on protected areas.

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Juliet noted that Rwanda and the GEF collaborate on projects involving livestock, providing livelihoods and nutrition support, and relocating people to safe environments. They rescue people in flood-prone areas, improve housing, and protect protected areas, ensuring a safer environment for all involved.

GEF offers grants and funding to developing and transitioning economies for projects involving biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, international waters, and chemicals and waste. It operates by collaborating with partner agencies like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank. It funds projects aligning with global environmental goals and national priorities, involving governments, civil society, and private sector stakeholders for sustainable outcomes.

Juliet expressed gratitude for a delegation of nine people visiting Rwanda, led by the CEO, to support the Rwanda Green Agenda. The project’s integration, such as the Gishwati-Mukura National Park, directly contributes to the tourism sector and GDP, while also boosting soil productivity and biodiversity loss in agriculture.

She said, “The project is a direct contribution to the tourism sector, and this adds to the GDP, we also have a contribution to other sectors like the agriculture sector, where we’re working to boost the productivity of the soil, which was being degraded because of biodiversity loss. So, the contribution can be looked at in different areas.”

She also announced the rehabilitation of four wetlands in Kigali: Gikondo, Kibumba, Rugenge-Rwintare, and Nyabugogo, aiming to boost tourism and improve the well-being of the local population, with funding primarily from GEF.

She said, “We did this in Nyandungu Park, and that was the first project of that nature; lessons learned from there, we shared them with the GEF, and they are pleased to fund the next four wetlands, even with additional partners joining the initiative.”

The GEF CEO’s visit underscores Rwanda’s robust partnership with the GEF, fostering environmental conservation projects, ecosystem restoration, climate resilience, and sustainable land management.

Key projects like the LAFREC which restored the former degraded Gishwati and Mukura forests before they became a national park and a UNESCO Biosphere reserve, the Green Amayaga project which is restoring the ecosystem and addresses climate change in the Amayaga region, NAP Project which builds the country’s capacity to plan and implement climate change adaptation initiatives, Decoupling Hazardous waste Generation Project which aims to improve hazardous wastes management as well as the LDCF3 Project, which builds resilience to climate change through ecosystem restoration, demonstrate the tangible benefits of this partnership.

To implement the aforementioned projects, the GEF has provided a total of $44,099,176 in funding.

The visit of the GEF CEO to Rwanda presents a valuable opportunity to highlight the forthcoming Ecosystem-Based Restoration Approach for the Nyungwe-Ruhango Corridor project under GEF.

This $10.15 million initiative, set to be implemented in the Ruhango, Nyanza, and Nyamagabe districts, aims to restore degraded ecosystems and foster multiple environmental and socioeconomic benefits through an integrated sustainable landscape management approach.