I&M Bank staff on Nov. 27, joined residents of Gicumbi District to plant trees in the former Gihembe refugee camp.

The exercise in which over 4,000 trees were planted was a collaboration with the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), UNHCR and SP Gas Rwanda.

Gihembe refugee camp was on a hilly area, making it prone to landslides and soil erosion during the rainy season. This could hurt farmers’ activities, and agroforestry is seen as the solution to restore the degraded land.

Olivier Kayumba, the Permanent Secretary in MINEMA hailed I&M Bank’s support, stressing that there is no time to do these nature-restoring activities other than now.

"These activities are part of the efforts to restore the nature that was here before. This camp was set up 24 years ago. So, as there are no refugees, this is the right time to restore the ecosystem for the host communities, especially since the rainy season is starting,” noted Kayumba.

Robin Bairstow, the CEO of I&M Bank Rwanda, stated that apart from financial activities, his bank is keen on promoting sustainability which is part of the core areas under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in education, health and environment.

"If you look at our buildings, the way we had developed our own energy, in the old building we were using solar panels so that we can be fully self-sufficient by ourselves and recycled water,” he said, highlighting how conservation of nature is in the Bank’s DNA.

"So, we also value planting trees because it stops erosion downstream and creates an inter-planting so that people would plant vegetables and feed themselves” he added.

Bairstow also revealed that the Bank has more tree planting activities planned.

Addressing the public, Ahmed Baba Fall, the Country Representative of UNHCR, said that fighting soil erosion and land degradation is vital to keep the environment and the people very healthy.

"Tree planting and reforestation remains the only way to preserve the ecosystem and reverse land degradation, so we know the implications of this particular activity,” he said.

One of the residents, Emmanuel Manirakiza, revealed that the support from partners motivated the locals.  

"We are appreciating this support to plant trees, we know that this is critical because trees prevent soil erosion and we can benefit from some economic activities like carpentry,” he told The New Times.