Stakeholders have commended the good progress for the rehabilitation of Gishwati – Mukura landscape – an area that was transformed into a national park since 2016 to increase its productivity and profitability while also improving the livelihoods of surrounding communities.

The rehabilitation of Gishwati – Mukura landscape started in 2015 with the aim of restoring Gishwati – Mukura forests and surrounding areas that were formerly degraded due to various human activities.  

The landscape is being rehabilitated by Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and stakeholders through a project named “Landscape Approach to Forest restoration and conservation – LAFREC, with the financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank.

While chairing the project National Policy Steering Committee Meeting on Friday, the Director General of REMA Eng. Coletha U. Ruhamya said that a lot has so far been achieved in the last four years of project implementation, including the restoration of forest reserves which now stands at over 90 %, plantation of agroforestry and indigenous trees, promotion of sustainable land management and introduction of sylvo pastoralism approaches among other activities.

The construction of various park facilities is also at a good stage, including the construction of patrol posts that was completed for Mukura side, the construction of the park Headquarters and sell points that are at elevation level as well as construction of base camps on riverside trail.

The Executive Secretary of Western province HABIYAREMYE Pierre Célestin together with officials from beneficiary districts appreciated how the beneficiary community has been trained on land management and was supported to improve their livelihood through various community development projects including bee keeping and honey processing and pig farming.

"They were also provided with agriculture inputs and livestock equipment to improve their farming which helped to increase productivity and harves," he added.

LAFREC project was also supplemented by another project supported by Nordic Development Fund to improve woodlot management, improve quality of seeds, and provide technical assistance for more efficient charcoal production and biomass processing and also promote alternative sources of cooking energy.

LAFREC project has been running from January 2015, and is being implemented in four districts of the Western Province namely Rutsiro,Ngororero, Nyabihu and Rubavu.