How Rwanda restored 800,000 hectares of forest in 10 years – Nature – Travel

Rwanda’s efforts are part of the Bonn Challenge, a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of forest and degraded land by this year and 350 million hectares by 2030.

For the densely populated and geographically small African country, there were many possible obstacles that could prevent the growth of the forest area to 30 percent of the total land area.

In addition to the limited availability of land – Rwanda has a total area of only 2.4 million hectares – the country has many steep hills and severe soil erosion. In addition, almost the entire population burns on wood, which means that forests need to become more productive. Since the 1960s, the forest area has declined by two thirds. Seventy percent of the area is also in the hands of small farmers. The variety of tree species was low at the beginning of the “challenge”, as was the quality of the tree seeds.

800,000 hectares

In 2018, however, Rwanda, along with South Korea, Costa Rica, Pakistan, and China, was one of the countries with the most successful reconstruction programs. It succeeded in restoring 800,000 hectares of forest, almost half of the original target, in less than a decade.

The success is partly due to the restructuring and strengthening of the National Seed Centre in Huye, which is located about 133 kilometres from the capital, in southern Rwanda.

The center’s mission is to distribute seeds, extract new seeds, improve trees that grow poorly, and certify seeds. Until 2014, the Centre was under the Rwandan Board of Directors for the Development of Animal and Agricultural Resources. But farmers complained that 90 percent of the seeds delivered did not come up.

Bad seeds

Emmanuel Nsabimana has worked for the National Seed Center for 40 years. “The farmers had to have little of the centre because they thought it was incompetent and they produced bad seeds,” he says. “The seeds were often returned.”

In 2014, the centre became part of the Rwandan Ministry of Forestry. And in 2016, the IUCN and the Federal Government – also initiators of the Bonn Challenge – became partners. In order to strengthen the Centre, the IUCN also entered into a partnership with the Rwandan Government, the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) and the University of Rwanda. This led to employee training, new equipment, new infrastructure such as greenhouses and the search for seed banks and the improvement of seed storage, says Jean Pierre Maniriho of the IUCN.

“Before these partners stepped in, a lot of things didn’t go well. For example, there was no cold room, which was bad for the seeds. Also, there were only two employees and the stock was old. But it’s all slowly improved,” says Floribert Manayabagabo. It makes the harvested seeds market-ready.

Laboratory

Manayabagabo says the success story is due to a combination of good partnerships that has ensured that the center now has good infrastructure, including kindergartens, a lab, a modern cold storage room, and five full-time employees.

Thirty percent of the seeds currently come from the ninety-year-old Ruhande Arboretum, which is 200 hectares in size and is located around the University of Rwanda. The seeds from the arboretum come from 207 exotic and native species, says Emmanuel Niyigena, the center’s field worker. The remaining seeds are supplied by nine cooperatives linked to forestry in Rwanda and imported from Kenya.

Successful cooperation

Eric Kazubwenge is an inspector at the National Seed Centre, where he is responsible for quality control. “Normally, this is done by checking that they are not damaged. Then we do tests in the laboratory before we continue testing them in the nursery.” Kazubwenge studied partly in Kenya and through the IUCN.

He explains that it used to be difficult for cooperatives to deliver good seeds because they could hardly distinguish between good and bad quality. At that time, the seed centre was also unable to carry out tests because it was poorly equipped. These restrictions no longer exist. “Our stock is now made of high-quality seeds, thanks to the cooperation and training we have carried out,” says Janviere Muhayima. He is responsible for the stock management in the seed centre.

Future

In addition to improving the National Seed Centre, the provision of information to farmers has also been improved. “We no longer receive complaints from farmers. The seeds react well in the soil.”

Kazubwenge hopes that in the future the center will be able to work with advanced technology to carry out genetic research and analysis. “Then we can build more knowledge about the compatibility of seeds based on their origin.”

Maniriho says Rwanda is well on its way to playing a regional leadership role in seeds. “Deforestation is a global challenge. Burundi or Malawi face the same problems as Rwanda. We are now importing seeds from Kenya, but soon countries could import seeds from Rwanda. When we make such connections, we strengthen mutual partnerships and perhaps we no longer have to spend money on seeds, which we sometimes have to source from overseas, because we cannot produce them ourselves.”

Rwanda’s efforts are part of the Bonn Challenge, a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of forest and degraded land by 2030 and 350 million hectares by 2030. For the densely populated and geographically small African country, there were many possible obstacles that could prevent the growth of the forest area to 30 percent of the total land area. In addition to the limited availability of land – Rwanda has a total area of only 2.4 million hectares – the country has many steep hills and severe soil erosion. In addition, almost the entire population burns on wood, which means that forests need to become more productive. Since the 1960s, the forest area has declined by two thirds. Seventy percent of the area is also in the hands of small farmers. The variety of tree species was low at the beginning of the “challenge”, as was the quality of the tree seeds. In 2018, however, Rwanda, along with South Korea, Costa Rica, Pakistan, and China, was one of the countries with the most successful reconstruction programs. It succeeded in restoring 800,000 hectares of forest, almost half of the original target, in less than a decade. The success is partly due to the restructuring and strengthening of the National Seed Centre in Huye, which is located about 133 kilometres from the capital, in southern Rwanda. Until 2014, the Centre was under the Rwandan Board of Directors for the Development of Animal and Agricultural Resources. But farmers complained that 90 percent of the seeds delivered did not come up. Emmanuel Nsabimana has worked for the National Seed Center for 40 years. “The farmers had to have little of the centre because they thought it was incompetent and they produced bad seeds,” he says. “The seeds were often returned.” In 2014, the centre became part of the Rwandan Ministry of Forestry. And in 2016, the IUCN and the Federal Government – also initiators of the Bonn Challenge – became partners. In order to strengthen the Centre, the IUCN also entered into a partnership with the Rwandan Government, the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) and the University of Rwanda. This led to staff training, new equipment, new infrastructure such as greenhouses and seed bank tracking, and improved seed storage, says Jean Pierre Maniriho of IUCN. For example, there was no cold room, which was bad for the seeds. Also, there were only two employees and the stock was old. But it’s all slowly improved,” says Floribert Manayabagabo. It makes the harvested seeds market-ready. Manayabagabo says the success story is due to a combination of good partnerships that has ensured that the center now has good infrastructure, including kindergartens, a lab, a modern cold storage room, and five full-time employees. Thirty percent of the seeds currently come from the ninety-year-old Ruhande Arboretum, which is 200 hectares in size and is located around the University of Rwanda. The seeds from the arboretum come from 207 exotic and native species, says Emmanuel Niyigena, the center’s field worker. The remaining seeds are supplied by nine cooperatives linked to forestry in Rwanda and imported from Kenya. Eric Kazubwenge is an inspector at the National Seed Centre, where he is responsible for quality control. “Normally, this is done by checking that they are not damaged. Then we do tests in the laboratory before we continue testing them in the nursery.” Kazubwenge studied partly in Kenya and through the IUCN. He explains that it used to be difficult for cooperatives to deliver good seeds because they could hardly distinguish between good and bad quality. At that time, the seed centre was also unable to carry out tests because it was poorly equipped. These restrictions no longer exist. “Our stock is now made of high-quality seeds, thanks to the cooperation and cooperation we have done,” says Janviere Muhayima. He is responsible for the stock management in the seed centre. In addition to improving the National Seed Centre, the provision of information to farmers has also been improved. “We no longer receive complaints from farmers. The seeds respond well in the soil.’Kazubwenge hopes that in the future the centre will be able to work with advanced technology to carry out genetic research and analysis. “Then we can build more knowledge about the compatibility of seeds based on their origin.” Maniriho says Rwanda is well on its way to playing a regional role in seeds. “Deforestation is a global challenge. Burundi or Malawi face the same problems as Rwanda. We are now importing seeds from Kenya, but soon countries could import seeds from Rwanda. When we make such connections, we strengthen mutual partnerships and perhaps we no longer have to spend money on seeds, which we sometimes have to source from overseas, because we cannot produce them ourselves.”