Kigali, Rwanda — Rwanda will host a regional webinar on 12 March to share lessons from two years of planting more than 100 000 trees across 2 400 hectares of urban and peri-urban land, according to official statements released on Tuesday.
The online meeting, titled “Scaling Green Infrastructure for a Resilient Rwanda”, is the latest session of the Green-Gray Infrastructure Accelerator run by the World Resources Institute (WRI). Government spokespeople said the event will bring together city planners, finance specialists and community groups to discuss how to move from pilot projects to permanent policies that blend natural features with conventional infrastructure.
Since 2022, authorities in Kigali and the northern city of Musanze have restored or newly planted vegetation along riverbanks, road reserves and public parks.
The programme is part of an 11-city network that includes Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Kumasi, Brazzaville and four other sub-Saharan centres. Independent observers say the accelerator offers technical help from feasibility studies to financing plans, then tracks each scheme through implementation and possible replication elsewhere.
Regional officials confirmed that the initiative responds to rising climate pressures.
By mid — century, eight in ten African city residents are projected to face at least eight days a year above 35 °C, up from two-thirds today. Rapid land-use change is also speeding biodiversity loss and leaving the 60 % of urban dwellers who live in informal settlements especially exposed to floods and heat stress.
The government stated in a communiqué that nature-based solutions can cut these risks while lifting biodiversity, public health and local incomes. Sources close to the matter said Tuesday’s announcement aims to keep the annual 15 % growth in such projects recorded between 2012 and 2021 from fading once donor attention shifts. Further details are expected after the webinar concludes next week.
