Degradation slows dev’t -REMA

The Ministry of Natural Resources has warned that the development goals enshrined in the Vision 2020, Millennium Development Goals could be hindered by environmental degradation.The warning was sounded during the launch of the Rwanda Atlas of Our Changing Environment published by the the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) yesterday. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Caroline Kayonga, said that despite the various commendable achievements the country has attained with an impressive annual economic growth rate and successful integration of environmental sustainability in varies policies, there are stunning reminders that natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce. The biannual report presents a visual account of the country’s environment status based on the existing scientific evidence.“Despite these commendable achievements, there are many vivid reminders that our natural resources heritage is becoming increasingly scarce as the country’s population grows. This is threatening livelihoods and a range of development goals enshrined in the Vision 2020, the MDGs and EDPRS,” She added that current maps and historical satellite images, aerial and ground photographs and storylines provided in the atlas show compiling evidence of human and climate change induced environmental degradation.“The atlas focuses on selected environmental hotspots. The key hotspots of the environmental changes feature in the Atlas include the issues of land use pressure, rapid urban expansion and the associated environmental problems, solid management, wetland degradation, water pollution, mining practices and industrial zoning.It illustrates exponential population growth over the last four decades using the City of Kigali as an environmental hotspot,” Kayonga continued.Kayonga said the analyses in the atlas underline the urgent need to formulate and implement policy responses intended to promote environmental sustainability including the strategy on green growth and climate resilience.The atlas also indicates that trans boundary natural resources issues need collaboration with the country’s neighbours at bilateral and community levels to be addressed. It also shows that the focus on climate change is also predicted on the fact that in 2001 climate hazards ranked third among the top ten causes of poverty in Rwanda, and although it is a low carbon economy and is one of the world’s lowest greenhouse gas emitters, it is among the most vulnerable to climate change.The Rwanda Environment Management Authority is mandated to take stock and conduct comprehensive supervision of environmental management by Article 3.3 the law No. 16/2006. It is against this back ground that the Authority releases a biannual report on the state natural resources in Rwanda. This is the second edition.

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Degradation slows dev’t -REMA