The Proposed Exploitation of Forest Resources at the Nyungwe Buffer Zone in Western and Southern Provinces has been presented by New Forest Company on 30^th May 2013 at Chez Landon Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda.

 

The buffer zone on the edge of Nyungwe forest was established in 1984 as a means of protecting the reserve and its ecosystems from resource exploitation and reducing contact between the reserve?s wildlife and the local population.

 

The zone is divided into three principal zones: tea, eucalyptus and pine plantations. The tea plantations are run by private companies and provide jobs to the local population, The pine plantations were initially intended as government-managed timber concessions communities could harvest trees that had fallen in the zone for firewood, but otherwise could not extract resources from the buffer zone.

 

The current trees in the buffer zone  are of varied ages (Most of the trees ready for harvesting having been planted  for during  the 1970s), in existence for over 30 years and  with young trees  having being 13 years old.

 

The buffer Zone covers total of 11,000 ha of the buffer zone of which NFC will harvest 8600 Ha of man-made plantations covered with pine, cypress, eucalyptus and acacia trees. This has been subdivided into 1161 compartments spread across 21 administrative blocks.

 

The project will cover 5 districts that is Karongi ,Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, Rusizi and Nyaruguru.

 

Forests Rwanda Limited, a duly registered company in Rwanda. This is a subsidiary of New Forests Company Limited. This has four other subsidiaries in Africa located in Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique with the Africa regional office located in South Africa but with the main headquarters located in Britain.

In 2011 the government through the National Forests Authority (NAFA)signed a logging agreement for the pine/eucalyptus  section of the buffer zone with a private British company, the New Forests Company (NFC) with the aim of managing  exploiting  and re-establishing the buffer zone with artificially planted forest plantations surrounding Nyungwe natural forest for a period of  49  years.

 

The proposed project  will involve the  harvesting and processing of the buffer zone products resources ( Mature Trees and later on newly planted trees ) and processing them into value added products ( Poles ,Timber  and Biofuel)  with the aim of improving the commercial and industrial sectors in Rwanda. 

 

The project will mainly have the following activities: Timber Harvesting /Logging, Transportation of timber,  Sawing & drying – for sawn boards, Drying and carbonization for industrial biofuels, Drying and chemical treatment – for electricity transmission poles, Building  housing units for the workers, Distribution and sale of value added products to the forest processing industry, Improvement of the road infrastructures within the BZ, Tree  replanting  activities (nursery, tending and harvesting), Silviculture activities including weeding, thinning and pruning.

 

EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

 

1. Deforestation: Over harvesting of trees of the buffer zone has been a problem people around the buffer have a tendence of cutting tress mostly for domestic purposes but rarely replant.

 

2.Soil erosion and landslips as a result of over-harvesting and no replanting: There are numerous areas in the Buffer Zone where erosion and landslides are taking place due to dense harvesting that approaches clear-cutting, with no replanting in effect. This was noted especially in Kitabi and Uwinkingi (Nyamagabe).

 

3. Insufficient capacity of the Forestry Unit: Illegal cutting of valuable trees has taken place in multiple locations and this is because of the insufficient capacity of forestry unit in managing the buffer zone and this causes over harvesting of the buffer products.

4. Road network: It has been noted that apart from the road that extends from Kitabi to Gisakura several old dirt roads exist within the Nyungwe Buffer Zone. There is no  direct road that links  one plant to another and this has been seen as a challenge to the project, however the NFC will construct  and rehabilitee e roads that will ease transport and communication at the project sites.

 

5. Land ownership: There is confusion about ownership of some lands in/around the Buffer Zone about the ownership with community or association representatives claiming lands that authorities consider officially within the Buffer Zone, which was legally defined in 2005 as Nyungwe National Park was officially declared (Law No 22/2005). This may cause difficulties for enforcement and for promotion of good management.

 

POSITIVE IMPACTS

 

1. Employment creation both at the construction site and during the operation Phase. Improved environmental impacts: Increased investments. Better housing facilities for employees, Better roads constructed during site preparation, New roads 10 km and 15KM upgrading during the first years.

2. Increased Tax revenue:

3. Stimulation of trade and services:

4.Maximization  of Land Utilization: Harvesting of the ready  raw materials like trees that are ready to be harvested, Production timbers  (Sawn Wood ), Charcoal production that will increase/ improve the living standards of both local people and the Rwanda people as a whole.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Thus, the study recommends timely implementation of the project with strict adherence to the proposed Environmental Management and Social Management Plans.

 

The project benefits have been identified to far outweigh the negative impacts for which a mitigation plan has been prepared.

The proponent has carefully considered and applied acceptable local and international standard/regulations at all stage of project planning and would thus qualify for Banking/donor funding.