Rwanda Biodiversity Policy

Rwanda has no policy or legal framework that specifically addresses the conservation of biodiversity and to regulate access and use. This policy is therefore being formulated, based on a growing body of scientific knowledge and emerging consensus and partnerships, to promote and support the maintenance and restoration of the integrity, functioning, and health of natural systems.
The purpose of this policy is to: provide an overarching framework for the conservation, sustainable utilization, access to biodiversity resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the resources.
This fits in with the Vision for Rwanda to be: a prosperous nation, whose people live and work in harmony with the natural environment, and which derives lasting benefits from the conservation and sustainable use of its rich biological diversity.
The objectives of this Policy are to: provide a comprehensive and cohesive policy framework that will strengthen the Government's ability to conserve and protect Rwanda's natural and cultural resources provide a legal and institutional framework for biodiversity conservation and management throughout the country, promote partnerships, incentives and benefit sharing to enhance biodiversity conservation and management, promote generation, management of conservation knowledge, including traditional knowledge, and its application in the conservation of biodiversity, provide a framework for access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits derived from those resources, promote positive attitudes towards biodiversity conservation and management.
In order to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the Government, in collaboration with interested and affected groups shall: (i) generate data on the status and trends of Rwanda's agro-biodiversity and support continuous agricultural biodiversity assessment and monitoring; (ii) integrate and mainstream agro-biodiversity into national and sectoral biodiversity and land use planning policies and decision making processes; (iii) integration of biodiversity conservation into agricultural practices (agriculture, pastoralism and agroforestry.
Regarding the reduction of the rural poverty, the policy plans to engage the youth in biodiversity management initiatives. To achieve this objective, the Government, in collaboration with interested and affected parties therefore, shall: (i) mainstream youth issues into biodiversity conservation and management plans and programmes; (ii) empower the youth to become catalysts for biodiversity conservation by providing tools, mechanisms and opportunities that enable them to participate effectively, (iii) provide incentives to attract the youth into biodiversity conservation careers and occupations. In addition, the strategy plans to facilitate the sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. To achieve this objective, the strategy shall facilitate the following activities: (i) put in place mechanisms for equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use and commercialization of Rwanda's plant genetic resources and related traditional knowledge among the current generation (intra-generational equity) and between generations (inter-generational equity), (ii) ensure that benefits are channeled to the concerned holders of plant genetic resources/traditional knowledge in a manner which treats men and women equitably and (iii) ensure that concerned local community or communities participate in devising benefit sharing schemes.
To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the strategy envisages the following activities: (i) to secure and effectively manage the country's wetlands and freshwater systems, and ensure that the future management of such areas will take place in an integrated manner and their resources utilized sustainably, and adverse impacts on aquatic biodiversity minimized, (ii) to conserve and use sustainably biological resources in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and avoid or minimize adverse impacts on the biodiversity of such areas, (iii) to facilitate the development of partnerships and stakeholder involvement in sustainable biodiversity management, (iv) to integrate the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into all sectoral and cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies at all levels of government and (v) to regulate the transfer, handling, use and release of genetically modified organisms in order to minimize the potential risks to biodiversity and human health while maximizing its benefits to society.
In the context of governance, to ensure that this policy is systematically implemented, implementation policy shall be guided by a plan which shall be developed in a participatory process, involving both Government and non-government stakeholders. This policy will be implemented at two levels: (i) Supervisory Level: The supervisory role shall be performed by MINIRENA, the Ministry responsible for Environment and Natural Resources. MINIRENA will provide the overall policy guidance and supervision, and monitor how it is being implemented in relation to other national policies. This should be done with the advice and consultation of arms of government that are responsible for overall national policy, and other relevant sectors such as that manage or have impacts on components of biodiversity, such as wildlife management, agriculture, water among others; (ii) Technical Level: REMA, the designated implementing agency for environment and biodiversity policies, will be responsible for technical operations and coordination with other agencies.