Burundi APRN-BEPB - PPI2

RESTAURING ECO-CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AROUND LAKE RWERU
SSI
Country
SMALL-SCALE INITIATIVES PROGRAMME (SSI)
Beneficiary
Total project cost
FGEF contribution
Other financial partners
Project duration
Agreement signed on
Burundi
Association de Protection des Ressources
Naturelles pour le Bien-Etre de la Population au
Burundi (APRN-BEPB) – Association for Natural
Resource Protection for the Welfare of Burundi’s
Population
42.000 €
31.500 € (75%)
Beneficiaries (10.500€)
18 months
11 February 2011
Context
Covering some 10 000 hectares between Rwanda and Burundi, Lake Rweru is the
largest of eight lakes in the Bugesera region. The lake is part of a specific swamp
and lake complex and has an important role in regulation.
Almost 140 000 people live in Busoni, a town about 10km away from the lake, and
the ecosystem has come under threat from a range of human pressures
(overfishing, fishing with mosquito nets, agriculture) as well as natural hazards
(sedimentation and lakeshore erosion).
The lake was listed as part of Bugesera’s Protected Aquatic Landscape by the
National Institute for the Environment and Nature Conservation (INECN) in 2005. A
“management plan for the Bugesera protected aquatic landscape” was drawn up in
2009.
Objectives
To address these issues, the NGO APRN/BEPB, which has already been working
for three years at a nearby lake, is aiming to contribute, through this 18-month
project, to the restoration of Lake Rweru’s riparian vegetation.
The project’s specific objectives are:
- to restore Lake Rweru’s riparian vegetation,
- to improve biophysical conditions in the farmlands adjacent to Lake Rweru,
- to introduce sound methods for using the lake’s flora and establish a crafts
industry based on some of its natural resources.
Main activities
The project covers 10 km along Lake Rweru’s shores and buffer zone. Several rows
of vegetation will be planted and amenities created by the NGO and the local
population. The main project activities are:
- collection and planting of 300 000 Phragmites mauritanus cuttings and 100.000
Aeschynomene Elaphroxylon saplings along the lakeshore,
- planting of 100.000 Acacia Polyancantha saplings and 100.000 Maesopsis eminii
and Malkhamia lutea saplings in the buffer zone around Lake Rweru,
- marking of 4 10-km contour lines and planting of soil-fixing vegetation along them,
- construction of a crafts centre for the manufacture and sale of basketwork made
with Cyperus Papyrus and training for 70 people in the manufacture of craft
products.
A forward study will also be conducted on the evolution of Lake Rweru’s ecosystem
and to identify practices that will preserve its biodiversity. The project will benefit
400 households, or a total of about 2000 people, and is consistent with the
guidelines set out by the INECN to improve conservation of this ecosystem.