Kigali will for the next two days host the regional Bonn Challenge EAC+, a high-level roundtable bringing together environment ministers from African governments that have demonstrated strong leadership on forest land restoration issues.

The meeting that started Tuesday at Kigali Convention Centre, brings together policy makers and experts in what has been called an international knowledge-sharing workshop.

Launched by world leaders at a ministerial roundtable in Bonn, Germany, in September 2011, the Bonn Challenge is a global aspiration to restore 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded lands by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. 

Underlying the Bonn Challenge is the forest landscape restoration approach, which aims to restore ecological integrity at the same time as improving human wellbeing through multi-functional landscapes.

The Bonn Challenge is not a new global commitment but rather a practical means of realizing many existing international commitments.

Rwanda is at the forefront of forest land restoration.

In March, a Forest Landscape Restoration Hub for the Eastern and Southern Africa countries was inaugurated in Rwanda during the celebration of International Forests Day.

The centre aims to provide high level technical support, financial packages, investments and incentives, and technical data access to restoration programmes in the region covering more than 24 countries.