And here I am going to be discussing the 5 ways that Rwanda tackled on and It is leading to the Green growth.

Rwanda is a country known for its beautiful, curving horizons, vividly manifesting the land's title: The country of a Thousand hills

For more than a decade, Rwanda has taken a proactive approach and put environment and climate change at the heart of all the country's policies, programs and plans. Its commitment to a nationwide landscape restoration is such that every year, Rwandans plant millions of trees to protect the country's forests, rivers and wetlands. it's hoped that all these initiatives will make Rwanda a developed, climate-resilient and low-carbon economy by 2050.

And here are the 5 highlights of what Rwanda did and is doing for the environment:

Rwanda had set a forest cover goal that had to be achieved in 2020 and that goal was to achieve a 30% forest cover of total land area. And this goal was achieved in 2019 November.

Whereby studies show that between 1990 and 2010, Rwanda lost 37% of its forest cover due to forest degradation. And Rwanda achieving this goal of rehabilitating almost the forest cover that it had lost in the past years was a huge achievement that it could have congratulated itself for. And it's still aiming higher for more hence leading its Green growth.

Rwanda was among the first countries to ban plastic bags in 2008. It banned non-biodegradable plastic bags, making them illegal to produce, import or sell. Huge negative effects were on Rwanda due to the improper disposal of plastic bags. The bags would block drainage systems and cause deadly floods and pollute agricultural land, preventing water absorption and leading to decreases in agricultural yields. To solve that then they had to collect the bags and burn them to prevent their exposure to the environment. This, however, released harmful toxins into the air hence also accounting for global warming. And so Rwanda then had to ban plastic bags to avoid all those circumstances and they had to find other alternative resources. 

And when you land in Rwanda, you luggage is checked. Not for drugs or guns but for plastic bags. So prepare your luggage to be checked at your arrival in Rwanda and make sure to not smuggle any illegal items.

As one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change, Rwanda is well aware that bigger challenges lie in the future. In preparation, the country has established the Green Fund, the largest investment fund of its kind in Africa. The fund supports the best public and private projects that have the potential for a change and that support Rwanda's commitment to building a green economy.

And over 138,000 green jobs have been so far been created by Rwanda Green Fund by 2019 November, which is a really huge contribution towards achieving a Greener economy.

Rwanda has made a great progress in restoring its degraded and deforested landscapes. Different forests have been restored and upgraded into national parks which in turn also influences positively the tourism sector. Wetlands i.e Rugezi wetland (that had dried up due to human activities and climate change) was rehabilitated in 2005. Its restoration led to the recovery of water levels, increased hydro-power productions and a boost for the country's fishing sector. And this was a great achievement that made Rwanda receive a Green Globe Award in 2010. Thus, restoration of degraded ecosystems has been driving Rwanda towards a Greener Economy.

For any country to achieve sustainable development, environmental sustainability must be taken into consideration. And that's why Rwanda has taken measures to ensure that the National development policies operate in harmony with the protection of the environment. 

And thus, Rwanda has put environment and climate change at the heart of all the country's policies, programs and plans.In this case all plans are working in alignment to protective measures of the Environment hence a huge contribution towards achieving a Greener Economy.

For all this to occur, It isn't only done by the government. But also Rwandan citizens aspire for a greener future and together we shall achieve our global aim. 

https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/styles/850x500_no_menu_article/public/content/images/2020/nyabikiri-rwanda-by-donatha-dukuzumuremyi.png?itok=NsH9hQQa

We are all in this together