Rwanda and Sweden have signed a grant agreement worth Rwf8.9 billion targeting green growth in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.

The agreement was signed between the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana and the Ambassador of Sweden in Rwanda, Johanna Teague on behalf of both countries.

Through an enhanced community-based biodiversity conservation project dubbed ‘COMBIO project’, the Ministry of Environment intends to plant natural forests in the region to reduce vulnerability to climate change.

The six-year project will, among others, help to restore and sustain the biodiversity in the protected natural forests and establish new biodiversity sanctuaries.

The signing ceremony was held at the ministry of finance . Photos by Dan Nsengiyumva

It will also sustain biodiversity integration in the production systems through capacity building of farmers' groups and develop community-based management and monitoring frameworks.

According to the Minister of Environment, Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, the seedlings that will be used will be acquired from other natural forests around the country.

"We will plant them over 400 km near the rivers and lakes, and 500 km near the roads. We will restore 8000 ha in the Eastern Province to increase the land for agricultural activities where trees will be planted alongside crops,” she detailed the implementation of the project.

She added that the project will provide jobs to improve the social welfare of people.

The savannah-like region will be turned green.

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana and the Ambassador of Sweden in Rwanda, Johanna Teague  and Minister of Environment Jean d'Arc Mujawamariya after signing the agreement on December 8

She said; "We want to assure Rwandans that the image of the Eastern Province is going to change.”

Amb. Teague said that the commitment is a response to not only the need of restoring, conserving and protecting biodiversity and local ecosystems for the benefit of communities living and using the land and forestry resources but also to build resilience to the effects of climate change.

She added that the project will focus on the Eastern Province but also aims to inspire national and global action on ecosystem restoration, conservation and protection.

Ndagijimana said that this comes to support the country’s environment and climate program which is a key cross-cutting area of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1).

"It is further in line with Rwanda’s Vision 2050 goal of being carbon neutral and climate-resilient, which can be achieved if communities have the knowledge, skills, and tools to adapt to a changing climate,” he added.

The project comes to complement efforts already started in partnership with the Green Climate Fund through the support channeled to International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) partnering with Enabel, the Belgian development agency, to implement the Transformation of Eastern Province Through Adaptation Project.

A deal worth $49.6 million for restoring over 60,000 ha of drought degraded landscapes into climate-resilient ecosystems.

Minister of Environment, Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya