Today, Rwanda is striving to build resiliency to Climate change through increasing and maintaining achieved forest cover of 30.4% and promotion of sustainable forest management with ensured impact to climate change effects and provision of forest goods and services for sustainable development for the country. TREPA (Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation) project is one of the country efforts financed by Green Climate Fund (GCF) to restore degraded lands through forests and agroforestry landscapes restoration in all 7 Districts of the Eastern Province so as to build resilience of Rwandan Eastern Province community to climate change impacts. In 6-years (2021-2027), TREPA Project will support restoration of around 60,000 ha of degraded landscapes with 6,545 ha of small-holder private woodlots.  

To achieve a such transformation change in Eastern province, TREPA plans to use Private Forest Management Unit (PFMU) approach, an approach that consists of consolidating degraded private forests into one unity(20-100ha) to be managed by the cooperative of forest owners according to elaborated simplified forest management plan (SFMP). The Forest Management Unit (FMU) approach is recommended by the forest policy action (NFP, 2018) and the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1; 2017-2024) to improve forestry sector performance towards sustainable forest management. This approach was piloted in Rwamagana, Gicumbi, Gakenke and Rulindo districts through the support of the former Belgian funded FMBE project (2017-2021) and has achieved impressive success. To this end, 18 PFMUs that count about 890 ha were established and are well managed by formed cooperatives to produce goods and ecological services.  

In environment protection perspective, restored PFMUs are contributing to the environment protection through direct effects to soil erosion, water catchment and climate regulation, and CO2 sequestration. It is expected an improve productivity of 13 m3/ha/year in restored PFMUs and an increased (10 times) carbon sequestration over the next 20 years (1.078.569 tons of CO2 compared to only 174.597 tons in business as usual-BAU).  

In that context of implementing TREPA project, Enabel in collaboration with Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA) and other project implementers such as IUCN, ICRAF, CordAid and World Vision, is organizing a study tour for new PFMU cooperative leaders to learn from the successful PFMU sites as part of awareness. The study tour is taking place in PFMU Cooperative (KOTABB and KOTIGA) located respectively in  Fumbwe and Gahengeri Sectors of Rwamagana District. The PFMUs have been established in planting season 2018/2019 and are about the first cutting.  

At Fumbwe and Gahengeri PFMU sites, Community Leaders from newly mapped 46 PFMUs sites that correspond to 46 pre-cooperative committees from seven districts of Eastern Province observe and exchange with their colleagues PFMU practitioners (KOTABB and KOTIGA PFMU Cooperative leaders) of Rwamagana District. In this tour, PFMU cooperative leaders are accompanied by their local authorities and technicians including Cell Officer, Sector executive Secretary and Sector Forest Officers, V/C/Mayor in Charge of economic Affairs, District Forest Officers, Staff in charge of Cooperative at district level to learn together on the PFMU approach.

During the study tour, PFMU cooperative leaders described to their colleagues the journey undertaken in PFMU establishment till the current status and highlighted faced challenges and key points to be taken into consideration to succeed in new PFMU establishment. On the other hand, Rwamagana local leaders and technicians informed the participants especially their counterparts the role played by local authorities to get PFMU approach adopted by forest owners.  

Participants from TREPA intervention areas have been impressed and motivated by seeing such consolidated private forests, productive plantations of Eucalyptus spp (never seen in their areas) that are growing well and providing important ecosystem functions in their 4 years of establishment. Observed current status of established PFMU and testimonials given by their colleagues forest practitioners, most importantly, the regret of some farmers who refused to join approach, have impressed more. The PFMU leaders and authorities from TREPA intervention areas show more interest in PFMU and commit to change their working mode from business as usual to sustainable forest management through running this PFMU approach.  

Generally, PFMU leaders, authorities and technicians from TREPA intervention areas have seen that it is possible to have a well consolidated forest, to transform degraded forest into productive one and that nothing is impossible for committed and working together people. From that position, they committee to run and valorize this PFMU approach together since they have clearly seen and understood all processes behind PFMU establishment.