Kigali's Five-Wetland Rehabilitation Programme — Turning Flood Zones into Urban Eco-Parks

Following Rwanda's 2018 wetlands-protection law, which required the eviction of informal industry and farming from Kigali's wetlands, the City of Kigali is rehabilitating five interconnected wetlands — Gikondo (162 ha), Nyabugogo Lower (131 ha), Kibumba (68 ha), Rwampara (65 ha) and Rugenge-Rwintare (65 ha), totalling roughly 491 hectares — into flood-control eco-parks. Works began in March 2024 and reached about 75% completion by late 2025.
The $27 million programme is financed by the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank's second Rwanda Urban Development Project, the Nordic Development Fund and the Government of Rwanda. Engineering elements include constructed ponds, artificial lakes, sediment-trapping channels and river reprofiling designed to regulate stormwater flow and stabilise water tables for a city where wetlands cover about 12.5% of the land area. Over 220,000 residents of surrounding neighbourhoods, including Gikondo, Bweramvura and Gatsata, are expected to benefit from reduced flooding, plus new walking and cycling paths, bird sanctuaries and recreational facilities.
The programme follows the template of the Nyandungu Eco-Park, an earlier single-wetland rehabilitation (2016–2022) that planted over 17,000 native trees and plants across 55 species and now draws roughly 6,000 visitors a month. Because the five-wetland phase is still under construction, independent post-completion measurements of flood reduction, water quality or biodiversity recovery are not yet published — the evidence here concerns engineering design, funding and institutional commitment rather than confirmed ecological outcomes.

Read the full analysis: https://www.shiftcities.org/post/breathing-new-life-5-kigali-wetlands-enhance-climate-resilience-and-quality-life