If people changed their attitude toward wetlands management and preservation, government would register tremendous success toward restoring wetlands and making them more productive.

Dr Rose Mukankomeje, the director-general of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (Rema), made the remarks ahead of today’s World Environment Day.

In Kigali, wetlands have been affected by human activities, including industries, car-repair garages and settlements.

In some places, wetlands are secretly used as dumping sites for toxic waste.

Rwanda is blessed with 860 marshlands covering a total surface of 278,536 hectares, which corresponds to about 11 per cent of the country’s surface area, according to a recent inventory of wetlands.

However, statistics from Rema indicate that 92,000 hectares are used for agriculture; but most of this land is not appropriately managed, leading to wetlands drying out.

Rema says there are laws that stipulate how wetlands are managed and any violation is punishable. 

"We still believe in educating people and also encourage people to report any case of wetland mismanagement,” Mukankomeje said.

Nyabugogo wetland is one of those areas that have suffered the harshest degradation due to human activities. Although government succeeded in relocating hazardous garage activities from Gatsata area, is battling the burning of vehicle tyres for steel wire in the area.

Sources say the burning tyres starts after midnight and on average about 10 truck tyres are burnt every night. 

Residents living near Nyabugogo wetland say the tyres are burnt to get steel wires sold as scrap metals.

They complained that this activity is destructive to their environment and pollutes the air.

Rema is aware of the practice and is trying to stamp it out.

"We understand people burning those tyres have moved from Nyabugogo to somewhere closer to Kimucanga. Burning tyres pollutes the environment heavily and affects plant and animal species. We request the public to report such cases to the police so that such activities are dealt with,” said Dr Mukankomeje.

She added that prevention of such far-reaching consequences is a collective effort aimed at saving the environment and preserving natural resources.

"Wetlands act like a sieve that filters harmful waste substances. They are home to specific species and also used for agriculture, so if they are not sustainbably managed, then a lot is at risk,” Dr Mukankomeje said.

Restoration of Gikondo wetland

A plan to restore Gikondo wetland took effect last month with the relocation of factories to the Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District.

Gikondo wetland is interconnected to Nyabugogo wetland forming, a system that discharges into the Nyabarongo River and its tributaries.

The Nyabarongo River feeds Akagera River, which flows downstream into Lake Victoria.

This mean industrial wastes and other pollutants created in the Gikondo-Nyabugogo wetland system pose environmental challenges that extend to the region.

As a result, government decided to part with a whooping Rwf33 billion to relocate the factories from Gikondo wetland.

"Currently, four of the nine factories that are supposed to relocate in the first phase have already moved to Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) in Gasabo District,” said Emmanuel Hategeka, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Hategeka added that the relocation of the medium factories in the area will end in September, while the five large scale industries will have moved by 2017.

The money allocated to relocating the factories, Hategeka said, may be reviewed in 2016.

"The whole plan is to restore the environmental integrity of that area and ensuring that it fits within Kigali’s grand master plan,” he said.

The relocation costs will include moving those with houses in regards to the expropriation law and construction of new structures for those particular industries meant to shift to KSEZ.

However, given the conditions and facilities of the Special Economic Zone and even the available land in KSEZ, the government believes that it is not possible to relocate all 104 occupants in Gikondo Industrial Park to the Kigali Special Economic Zone.

Wetland and City master plan

According to the City of Kigali master plan, the Gikondo wetland is earmarked for an artificial lake that will meander the city.

Bruno Rangira, the director of media and communication told The New Times that the City is optimistic the wetland will be restored.

"The place once had water but later it dried up. We assume that if we restore the wetland, then the water may fill up and form a lake,” he said.