Association pour la Conservation de la Nature au Rwanda
For People and Biodiversity
News and Events
 World Environment Day | published the 5th Jun 2012 |
ACNR staff has participated in the celebration of the 40th ‘World Environment Day’ 2012
Every year on June 5th, the World celebrates the Environment Day commonly known as the ‘World Environment Day’ (WED). This year the worldwide theme was ‘Green Economy, Does It Include You?’ In Rwanda, REMA (Rwanda Environment Management Authority) organises a whole participatory environment week. The activities end with the celebration of the WED, on June 5th. In this context the ACNR staff joined Rwandan population and stakeholders to celebrate the WED 2012 which took place in Rubavu District, at the north-western part of Rwanda.
REMA planned to show us participants how they have been protecting Rubavu Mountain. About two years ago, the Government of Rwanda noticed how soiled the quarter up the hill was. Since it was located lakeside it threatened Lake Kivu seriously. REMA and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) decided to move local inhabitants to Karukogo Village, away from Rubavu Mountain and City. The slum made place for a park where tourists and locals shall enjoy nature in the future. The former quarter changed completely. Instead of dusty narrow trails between houses, smoke from fireplaces and acid sewages we enjoyed a path out of rocks leading up and down the hill, fresh air and a stunning view over Rubavu City, DRC and Lake Kivu. But still, there is a lot to work on. It is intended to build up lodges and restaurants up the mountain in order to make it a tourist attraction.
During the morning we visited Karukogo Village. It does not only host former residents of Rubavu Mountain but also families who were located on a nearby hill. Because heavy rain destroyed their houses, those families lived in huts out of metal sheets. REMA did improve their livelihoods by, among others, showing them how to build proper houses. The Director General of REMA Dr. Rose Mukankomeje explained how close environment and sustainable development are linked. Hence we visited a future village henhouse, before planting some fruit trees belonging to the local community. We noticed the more developed status of this village and it was promised by the Western Providence Governor to keep on working with the local dwellers. Therefore, “it is important to empower the partnership between governmental institutions, NGOs, private sectors and communities”, said Hon. Minister Stanislas Kamanzi, the Rwanda Minister of Natural Resources (MINIRENA), who was the Guest of Honour at that ceremony.
According to the local inhabitants all activities had a huge impact. It brought many advantages like infrastructure, access to fresh water and electric power. Moreover, there is enough space for every family to have its own field and even some animals. People seemed happy with the new circumstances; they were dancing and singing with hope for a better future. We from ACNR appreciate the effort made and hope to continue our partnership with REMA closely.
| Welcome to Julie | published the 1st Oct 2011 |
ACNR has addition to its staff. Kathi and Prosper from the University were joining ACNR in Septmber and October. Since the 1st of September ACNR is happy to work with Julie Entzian, a new volunteer from Germany. She is replacing Till Esch and Dane Beckers who left back to Germany during September 2011 after a successful year. In this manner we keep our close partnership to artefact.
If you want to know more about Kathi, Prosper and Julie or other employees please have a look at our staff section.| World Migratory Bird Day 2011 in Rwanda | published the 20th May 2011 |
Read our Report about the World Migratory Bird Day 2011 in Rwanda.
wmbd2011.pdf
| Environmental Education in Jinja, Uganda | published the 27th Apr 2011 |
During the last week of March, Dane and Till participated in a workshop for Nature Club
patrons and students in Jinja, Uganda, that was organized by the staff of
FABIO (First African Bicycle Information Organization)
for primary and secondary schools. It was held in a catering school in Jinja on Tuesday
the 29th and Thursday the 31st of March. Our aim was to re-activate the work of those
Nature Clubs and to give the participants some new ideas about what could be done as
activities in the context of Environmental Education. The workshop was a very successful one since there were lots of interested and committed teachers and students. Detailed discussions were held on up-coming problems in Uganda and on how those are linked to climate change. Sine Environmental Education is of such an importance we were also working in a group session on how to make students as well as teachers be interested in environmental issues and how to sensitize them on the impacts of their own behavior on the environment.
Besides that we went on an excursion to the Jinja landfill were the waste from the city is collected and where a bit of it is composted. Since Uganda has a serious problem of waste and its management and lots of plastic waste is produced and than just burnt or dumped anywhere in nature, it is an important step in the context of Environmental Education to create awareness among the population on issues like waste management and how to avoid (or prevent) it.
We hope that we achieved our aims in sensitizing and in that way activating the Environmental Clubs and their members to be proactive in terms of teaching others about environmental-friendly behavior as well as about Climate Change and its impacts.