Refugees in campaign to plant trees

Congolese refugees in Kiziba camp, Karongi District, and area locals, have planted about 6,000 trees around the camp as part of efforts to protect surrounding hills and land against erosion and other environmental catastrophes.The eucalyptus trees were planted on four hectares of land around the camp.The three-day exercise that started Tuesday, was organised by camp and local officials as well as non-governmental organisations.Located in the hilly Rwankuba Sector, about 33 kilometres outside Kibuye town, Kiziba Camp hosts more than 16,000 Congolese refugees, most of whom have been there for the past 17 years.The camp, which covers 27 hectares, was established in 1996, and it received more refugees in 2006 and 2009.There have been growing concerns over the state of environment in and around the camp, with refugees blamed for continuous encroachment, leaving the camp susceptible to disaster.From its establishment, Kiziba camp has struggled with insufficient supply of firewood, which often compels the refugees to raid the surrounding trees for firewood, officials said.With tree cover dwindling, fighting deforestation and protecting environment became one of the priorities of Karongi District and international and local NGOs operating in the camp. American Refugee Committee (ARC), one of the NGOs operating in the camp, has committed to rehabilitating old tree nurseries in the camp, to cultivate tree seedlings and donate to Rwankuba Sector for planting.Speaking at the launch of the exercise, Eric Habyarimana, the environment and water officer at Karongi District, said the operation is not only beneficial to the environment which refugees and the host community share, but also contributes to mutual acceptance and understanding as well as peaceful coexistence for the benefit of both sides.Meanwhile, in a show of solidarity, a soccer game that pitted the team of refugees with employees of KivuWatt project was held. The match ended one-all.KivuWatt is a project to generate energy from methane gas in Lake Kivu. The US-based company Contour Global is on the final phase of construction of a barge which will extract methane gas from Lake Kivu for generating electricity which is expected to give 25MW.

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Refugees in campaign to plant trees