Rwanda

Rwanda has diverse habitats and ecosystems that range from humid montane forests to savannahs, lakes, rivers, and wetlands which support a wide range of biodiversity. However, the Country’s biodiversity faces various threats that have led to a loss of species, shrinkage in population sizes, and ecosystem degradation. Rwanda’s development agenda recognizes the important and central role that biodiversity and natural resources play in terms of supporting the country’s economic growth, and livelihoods as well as in the provision of critical ecosystem services such as water, soil erosion and flood control as well as climate change mitigation. Therefore, the conservation of the environment and natural resources has been well integrated in the country’s development blueprints such as Vision 2020 Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II); Vision 2050; and the National Strategy for Transformation (NSTI2018-2024).

Funding for Biodiversity conservation has been limited and grossly inadequate for implementing proposed environmental activities in different sectors. The major sources of financing biodiversity conservation have been Government, development Partners and some international NGOs. Part of the reason why funding levels have been low from the various actors is due to lack of a holistic approach to financing biodiversity conservation that takes into consideration the potential of biodiversity in poverty reduction, economic development, health, and sanitation among others. Therefore, there is a need to diversify funding sources and explore other mechanisms.

Key Results

Finance Solution #1: Mainstreaming biodiversity into the environmental impact assessment process

  • Institutional Results: Environmental impact assessment experts trained in biodiversity-inclusive EIA guidelines. A total of 149 number trained disaggregated as follows: Women: 47    Men: 102
  • Policy Results: Revised EIA ministerial order to include updated EIA biodiversity inclusive     Guidelines
  • Avoid Future Expenditure: The experts of the EIA have been trained to consider biodiversity in EIA process which will help avoid the future expenditure.
  • Biodiversity Impact: In long-term, we envisage a positive impact on biodiversity, including the preservation and conservation of sensitive or critical areas and species.

Finance Solution #2: Fully channeling environmental fees and fines through a dedicated biodiversity facility in FONERWA

  • Institutional Results: Establishing a biodiversity finance facility within the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA). This work is currently ongoing.
  • Realign Revenues: Environmental fees and fines are channeled into one institution (the Rwanda Green Fund). Development of the collection systems for both fees and fines is currently being developed by IREMBO as part of streamlining the collection system.
  • Financial Results: For the period January to June 2023, a total of USD 112, 084 in relation to environmental fees and fines were collected and channeled into FONERWA.
Finance Solutions
Key Documents
Policy and Institutional Review (PIR)

The Biodiversity Finance Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) has been completed and it reviewed the challenges and opportunities surrounding the current status and potential trajectories of Rwanda's biodiversity and ecosystem finance context. The objective of this report was to analyze the adequacy of current policies, the existence of policy gaps, the translation of policies into practice, the role of the broader policy environment in influencing existing practices, the roles, responsibilities, and institutional framework to finance and manage biodiversity and existing finance mechanisms, important subsidies, laws, and trends around biodiversity finance. 

 

Expenditure Review (BER)

The Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) in Rwanda examined that from 2011-2017, biodiversity related expenditure accounted for for only 0.5% to 0.9% of the total central government budget, on average external sources of funds have were 56 percent while the domestic resources allocation accounted for 44 percent. The combined aid dependency, fluctuations in biodiversity expenditures, and low biodiversity mainstreaming in the natural resource sector create high uncertainty in future biodiversity finance and management in Rwanda. 

Needs Assessment (FNA)

The Finance Needs for implementing Rwanda's NBSAPII were estimated over two timelines; 2018/2019 to 2023/24 in line with the National Strategy for Transformation 1 (NST1), and 2018/19 to 2029/30  in line with the SDGs. The estimated cost of implementing the prioritised activities in the NBSAP is between RWF 82.6 to 91.2 billion (equivalent to $97.5 and 107.7 million) for the period 2018/19 - 2023/24 (SDGs timeframe) and RWF 37.5 to 41.0 billion (equivalent to $ 31.8 to 33.9 million) for the period 2018/19 - 2013/24 (NST1 timeframe). The distribution of projected costs showed that the capital costs are 5% higher than recurrent costs, with recurrent costs requiring 46% of the budget while capital expenditures requiring 54% of the budget. This is not in line with Government's strategy to have higher capital investments recurrent expenditures for biodiversity.