Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) has urged communities in Burera and Gicumbi districts to keep conserving the Rugezi wetland which has played a big role in stabilising the water supply for national hydropower generation.

The call was made on Monday, May 26, 2024, in Butaro Sector, as part of the Environment Week activities ahead of the World Environment Day slated for June 5 under the theme, "Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience”.

Rugezi wetland is a peatland located in Burera and Gicumbi districts in Northern Province, covering about 7,000 hectares and lying at an altitude of approximately 2,050 metres.

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BirdLife International, a consortium of conservation NGOs, has classified Rugezi as one of seven important bird areas that accommodate threatened bird species including the Bradypterus graueri (songbird species) and grey-crowned crane.

Rugezi was designated as a Ramsar site in 2006, meaning it is of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Conservation.

According to REMA, over the past seven years, the population of cranes increased from 74 to 273 in 2023 following various national initiatives against people who would capture and keep them domestically.

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Its successful restoration has gained international recognition including a Green Globe Award in 2010 following government measures that were put in place to avoid further agricultural activities that were causing water levels to fall, becoming a critical threat to both nature and the economic sector.

REMA’s five-day "Environment Restoration at 30” tour, starting May 25 to June 5, showcases Rwanda’s successes in reversing land degradation and promoting sustainable practices.

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The tour aims at educating and engaging young Rwandans in preserving and restoring the country’s natural heritage.

"We urge the community around Rugezi wetland to keep playing their role in conserving the wetland and fighting encroaching and polluting activities. The wetland once dried up due to human activities which disrupted the water supply for hydropower generation, leading to a nationwide power outage,” Théogene Ngaboyamahina, the Focal Point of the Ramsar Convention in Rwanda, said.

"The country was spending over Rwf65 million on buying fuel to power Diesel Power plants. That was a big loss derailing targets for renewable energy. After the wetland was restored, water reappeared and electricity was generated again.”

Ngaboyamahina called upon local leaders to take the lead in engaging the community in increasing the efforts in conserving the Rugezi wetland.

"There are over 82 bird species in Rugezi wetland, including endangered species, thanks to its restoration. Local leaders, conservation rangers, security organs, and community members should join their efforts to combat pollution and encroachment on the wetland,” he said.

Eco-tourism

Biodiversity conservation organisations are also working with the Rwandan government to create a new 14,857-acre national park to protect the entire Rugezi wetland at the cost of over Rwf3 billion.

"We urge investors to contribute to our efforts to create an eco-tourism park on Rugezi wetland. This should be an international tourist site. We are mobilising all needed resources and partners to create the eco-park in the next five years. Rugezi should be attractive to tourists and hotels must be constructed in the areas,” Ngaboyamahina said.

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He urged youth from higher learning institutions and conservation organisations to play their role in sustaining achievements in the environment sector recorded over the past 30 years.

Jean Baptiste Uwiringiyimana, an employee of Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, and a conservation ranger in Rugezi wetland mentioned that agricultural activities, grass-cutting for traditional sleeping mats, fishing, hunting, and waste disposal, were the main polluting activities in Rugezi wetland.

"Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association also intervened since encroaching and polluting activities were still being observed. We monitor the wetland daily to curb the polluting activities,” Uwiringiyimana said.

He recalled that the 2021 law on biodiversity was established to punish poaching, polluting, and encroaching activities in conserved areas such as Rugezi wetland.

"Whoever dumps solid waste into Rugezi wetland commits an environmental crime and is punished with Rwf300,000 fine and ordered to remove the waste. Those who cut grass in the wetland, those who fell trees planted in the buffer zone as well as fishers in the wetland are punished with a fine ranging between Rwf100,000 and Rwf1 million and an imprisonment of between one year and three years,” he explained.

Japhet Nsengiyumva, a resident near the Rugezi wetland, said that some residents also play a role by reporting the people who still intend to encroach on the wetland.

"Many people also seek to cut grass to make traditional sleeping mats,” he said.

Since 2023, the International Crane Foundation (ICF) has initiated mattress provision to women groups as an alternative to sleeping mats for households residing around the marshland.

This initiative aimed to decrease reliance on grass cutting, thereby, helping to conserve the cranes’ habitat.

Women were singled out for mattress provision in communities surrounding Rugezi marsh because they constituted the majority of individuals engaged in the vital task of harvesting marsh grass for crafting traditional sleeping mats.

Rugezi marshland has a critical importance for crane population growth as the grass acts as a vital nesting material, according to conservation experts

Once the community cuts the grass down, the crane population migrates and does not breed properly as their natural habitat is disturbed.

Theresa Nyirangwabije, 84, depended on the marshland for the most part of her life, seeking grass to craft mats.

"We would cut grass from Rugezi when I was a little girl. We would go there to collect firewood when we were children and would see the cranes,” she narrated.

Liberta Uzabino, who lives in the area around Rugezi, said that it is necessary to initiate savings groups for the local community to be able to buy mattresses instead of crafting mats using grass from the wetland grass.

There are over 38,000 households around Rugezi wetland and 26,945 households are located in the catchment area.

The local women and men would cut grass in the marshland, hunt birds, and kill snakes.

"There was no grass left before its restoration, we could even dig part of the swamp for potato farming,” said Uzabino. "You could see only one crane flying from there but things are now changing. Cranes and birds have increased in number and you can see a lot of grassland.”

"We now sleep well; we no longer cut grass to make mats, because we have mattresses to sleep on,” said Uzabino, adding that more women groups should be created and supported to increase the efforts to protect Rugezi marshland.