As Rwanda seeks to plant 65 million trees, restoring urban forests is among the priorities, Valentine Uwamariya, the Minister of Environment has said.

Urban forests and trees play a key role in cooling, mitigating temperature rises, and encouraging the population to be healthy and active.

"According to the land use master plan, 30 per cent of the land is dedicated to forests including urban forests," she said during the launch of tree planting season while celebrating 100 million trees planted in partnership with One Acre Fund Tubura during the last seven years.

Ornamental and fruit trees are being prioritised in the cities.

"Every household in the city should plant trees. We need cities with houses that are mixed with trees to become green. Every household should plant at least five trees. It is part of beautifying the city,"she said.

Urban experts are striving to curb the extinction of urban forest and protected areas in urban centres.

Unlike other provinces and rural district forests, urban forests are meant for protecting the city catchment against erosion effects on sloped ridges and hillsides, beautification of the city and mitigating the effect of greenhouse gases emissions to city warming.

For urban districts, trees are planted in urban areas and on roadsides for protection and beautification purposes.

According to the forest cover map, in Rubavu town, being a secondary city, it is recommended that urban forests are well managed to ensure that the city is protected against landslides and flooding by protecting upper Gisenyi catchments with protective forests and trees, roadside trees are well maintained and urban dwellers have trees in their compound to ensure a healthy and green city.

Being an urban district, forest and trees would attract more tourists and residents from the neighbouring country because of a healthy environment that forests and trees offer to urban dwellers.

Urban district master plan has designed protected areas for recreation, city catchment protection which urban forestry will focus on and design protective forests with suitable tree species in order for such forests and trees to play a vital role in urban health for city dwellers.

High-risk zones have been earmarked for forests in which urban forestry will focus on planting and restoring protective forests with suitable tree species in order for such urban forests to play a vital role in urban health for city dwellers.

The City of Kigali is focusing on homes, recreational zones, gardens, roadsides, areas with degraded forests among other urban areas as it targets to plant three million trees in a five-year campaign dubbed "My Tree”.

"Efforts should be tailored to the development of the urban forestry starting with Kicukiro district, which was consistently the least forested in both 2009, and the 2019 evaluations," says Rwanda's forest cover map.

The forest cover in Kigali city is estimated at 12,641 hectares corresponding to 17% of the total city land area.

The forest cover map shows that Nyarugenge is proportionally forested with 2,836 ha of forest cover (21% of the total district land), followed by Gasabo District with 8,381 ha covering 20% of the total district land area while Kicukiro is the least forested with only 9% forest cover.

According to the map, in the City of Kigali, forests are continuously decreasing because of the city expansion which requires consistent tree planting in various zones.

From 2009 to 2019, afforestation was 26.4% while deforestation was at 23.0% meaning that 2.6% of forest cover was added every year while 2.3% is removed every year.

The map indicates that "the annual increase of forest cover in Kigali City is therefore only 0.3% from 2009.”

Kigali has about 2,020 hectares of degraded forest plantations which need a reforestation plan, and for public forests, it is recommended to use native species while replacing degraded eucalyptus in protective forests and buffers.

On Saturday, during Umuganda-Community Work, the City of Kigali, in partnership with the SUNCASA Project (a 3-year project that aims to enhance resilience, gender equality, social inclusion, and biodiversity protection in urban communities), along with numerous officials and thousands of residents from Kicukiro, Nyarugenge, and Gasabo districts, launched the Igiti Cyanjye' (My Tree) community tree planting campaign.

More than 25,000 trees were planted, contributing to Kigali's goal of planting three million new trees over the next five years.

The campaign seeks to engage Kigali residents in planting and caring for trees, aiming to foster a sustainable, greener Kigali.

The Mayor of Kigali, Samuel Dusengiyumva, highlighted the importance of community-driven environmental initiatives.

"Today's Umuganda is more than a day of service, it's a call to action. The launch of the 'Igiti Cyaniye campaign is a crucial step in encouraging all residents of Kigali, young and old, to plant and care for their own trees. We want community champions to foster ownership of our urban environment. Together, we can build a sustainable, green, resilient, and vibrant city," he stated.

5,000 green jobs by urban forests in Kigali

The community work also marked the launch of the Scaling Urban Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SUNCASA) project in Kigali.

The project will support the Igiti Cyanjye campaign, facilitating the planting of trees through 2026, and creating over 5,000 green jobs

Marc Manyifika, WRI's Lead of Urban Resilience for Africa, emphasised the City of Kigali's leadership in global climate action.

"Kigali is setting a strong example in addressing climate challenges. Today's tree planting is a powerful message that local actions can truly shape a sustainable future," he said.

Belinda Bwiza, the CEO of One Acre Fund Rwanda, emphasised the need for fruit trees in different districts including urban areas.

"There is so much more we can do. We invite partners to join us as we feel climate change and weather variability. Most vulnerable populations are smallholder farmers. We need to help them adapt to climate change. We have to plant 25 million trees this year besides 100 million trees over the past seven years," she said.

Under the current tree planting season, 10 districts are set to receive a substantial share of the 65 million trees to be planted across Rwanda this October, according to Phocas Mureramanzi, the Acting Director of the Tree Seed Unit at the Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA).

Currently, Rwanda's forest cover stands at 724,695 hectares, accounting for 30.4% of the country's land area.

The government has set a target to restore two million hectares of degraded land by 2030 and has become one of the early adopters of the Bonn Challenge—a global initiative aimed at restoring 350 million hectares of deforested and degraded land worldwide by 2030.

To support these efforts, the government has established Tree Seed Centres in Gatsibo and Huye districts to enhance the availability of high-quality seeds.

These centres promote improved woodlot management, efficient charcoal production, alternative energy sources, and, importantly, better seed quality.