Rugezi Marsh Peatland Restoration — Rwanda

Rugezi Marsh is a high-altitude (about 2,050-2,100m) tropical peatland covering 6,735 hectares in Rwanda's Northern Province, regulating water inflow to Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo, which in turn feed the Ntaruka and Mukungwa hydropower plants - historically among Rwanda's most important electricity sources. By around 2000, an estimated 48.5% of the marsh's surface had been destroyed by agricultural drainage and cattle grazing; the resulting drop in lake levels and hydropower output forced the country to spend over Rwf65 million a month on diesel-fuelled backup generation.

In response, Rwanda's government imposed a marsh-wide ban on farming and grazing from 2008, blocked drainage channels with wood dams to raise the water table, and distributed 28,000 fodder cuttings to affected cattle herders as compensation for the grazing ban. The marsh was Ramsar-listed in 2006 and received a Green Globe Award in 2010 recognising the restoration's success, coordinated by the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association.

Restoration substantially recovered water levels and hydropower reliability, ending reliance on diesel backup, and biodiversity recovered markedly: the resident grey-crowned crane population - a globally endangered species - rose from about 80 individuals to 273 by 2023. Some cited economic valuations of the hydropower benefit (around US$100 million) appear in only a single academic source and should be treated as indicative rather than independently verified.

Read the full analysis: https://www.topafricanews.com/2024/05/29/rugezi-wetland-from-conservation-to-eco-tourism-adventure/