The lower chamber of Parliament will on Monday, March 25, deliberate and vote on a draft law governing forests and trees which is proposing stricter provisions, including prohibiting the harvesting of ‘immature trees’, and obliging residents to always seek permits to be allowed to cut mature trees.

If the provisions in the bill are adopted, it could lead to a reduction in firewood and charcoal production and use such as for cooking, as well as wooden construction.

The draft law seeks to replace the law governing the management and utilisation of forests, which was enacted in 2013, and is based on the opportunities, challenges and gaps identified during its implementation, according to an explanatory note of the bill.

Under the current law, residents are not required to have a licence to harvest forests having less than two ha.

Meanwhile, the bill seeks to support Rwanda’s effort to leverage different opportunities like forest carbon emission trading (carbon finance), through legislation, according to the Ministry of Environment.

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The draft law widens the scope of application to also capture the management of trees and adds the dimension of tree planting, agroforestry, and planting trees along rivers, lakes, roads, and urban settlement areas, among others.

Among other provisions, it prohibits harvesting, use, and sale of immature trees (which are referred to as poles in the bill) unless approved by the ministry in charge of forests for ‘particular reasons.’

Pole means an immature tree, with a diameter of less than 20 cm measured at 1.30 cm from the ground, as per interpretation in the bill. However, the bill did not consider cases where some trees might fail to reach such trunk width – as a result of factors such as soil type or nutrient deficiency.

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Under the bill, a person who uses poles without a permit commits a crime, and is liable to an administrative fine of between Rwf500,000 and Rwf3 million, while a person who trades poles is liable to an administrative fine of Rwf3 million.

It is planned that the issuance of permits for harvesting mature private (individual) forests/trees will be overseen by district authorities, while permits for harvesting state forests will be granted by the Rwanda Forestry Authority – the current institution responsible for forest management and promotion.

In an explanatory note of the bill, the government indicated that it was in line with Rwanda’s ambition where it is projected that 70 per cent of its population will be living in cities in 2050.

This, it indicated, implies the need to plant more trees to green our cities and settlements; to plant trees in our agricultural land (agroforestry), to plant along the roads, lake and river buffer.

Also, it indicated that the construction sector is growing and this has led to the cutting of immature trees for construction which destroys forests.

Rwanda has committed to different international agreements like Bonn Challenge to restore 2 million hectares (as Rwanda’s target), Paris Agreement on climate change, among others.

"There is a need to have a legal tool for implementation of these commitments,” the explanatory note reads in part.

The Bonn Challenge is a global goal to bring 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2030.