The Rwandan capital’s experiment in making urban nature pay social dividends
By Jean-Claude Mugisha
KIGALI – On a cool morning in late 2025, a team of workers donning yellow vests and rubber boots moves carefully through shallow marsh water at what was once a neglected wetland on the outskirts of Kigali. Their efforts stir ripples in murky water. With each careful step they carry silt nets, life jackets and planting tools. Around them, stumps and debris from previous informal land use lay half-submerged. Yet in the damp air there is hope. Saplings already break through the mud, and in the distance a half-formed pond reflects grey clouds. Where once runoff gathered dangerously, there is now effort to re-establish water flow and reclaim a fragile landscape.
This transformation forms part of a major initiative that began in March 2024, led by the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA). The plan targets five wetlands in Kigali: Gikondo Wetland, Nyabugogo Wetland, Kibumba Wetland, Rugenge-Rwintare Wetland and Rwampara Wetland, together covering about 491 hectares.
For many in Kigali, wetland restoration is no longer an abstract plan but a reinvigoration of water, green space, livelihoods and urban identity.
“Wetlands will help us live better than we were”
At the inauguration of the city’s first restored wetland turned park, Nyandungu Eco-Park, REMA’s Director General, Juliet Kabera, addressed the public: “The government invested in restoring these wetlands so that they can help us live better than we were. It is not because the government loves wetlands more than people but because we know they are important to human life”.
No longer are wetlands marginal wastelands. They are being framed as essential urban infrastructure, places for water management, recreation, nature and reflection.
Since Nyandungu opened in 2022, its transformation has been tangible. In 2024 the park recorded 76,754 visitors, up from 67,222 in 2023 and 48,813 in 2022.
For many families, it means a weekend escape into native forest and wetland paths, a quiet refuge shaded by trees, offering a natural classroom under open skies rather than crowded streets. Children hear birdsong return, runners and cyclists move through stretches of green air, and older residents find benches under canopy shade where they can sit in calm.
As REMA’s wetlands manager, Martine Uwera, explained, “The wetlands act like sponges, absorbing and storing excess water during flood periods and slowly releasing it during dry spells. This natural regulation of water flow prevents floods and ensures a steadier supply of water throughout the year”.
Livelihoods restored and re-imagined
Beyond greenery and recreation, the wetlands rehabilitation carries economic and social opportunity. The five-wetland programme will feature 58.5 kilometres of pedestrian and cycling paths, laid flat and equipped with benches every 500 metres to ensure accessibility.
In wetlands such as Kibumba and Gikondo, plans include fishing ponds, small lakes, botanical gardens and public-space amenities. As Uwera summarised, wetlands will host “water-flow structures and trees but public infrastructure, walking and cycling paths, fish ponds, green zones, and recreational spaces” .
The project’s social ambition goes further. It aims to provide livelihoods through conservation, maintenance, eco-tourism, recreation services and wetland management. As part of the earlier Nyandungu restoration, approximately 4,000 “green” jobs were created.
For residents who previously relied on informal wetland farming or lived on marginal, flood-prone land, the new wetlands offer alternatives: stable, dignified, public-oriented work rather than precarious informal activity.
In this sense, the project restores both social opportunity and ecological function.
Restored nature, returning wildlife, quiet but visible gains
The stakes of restoration extend to nature itself. At Nyandungu Eco-Park, more than 62 indigenous plant species have been planted and nearly 200 bird species, many of which had abandoned city wetlands, have returned.
For Kigali residents, this means gulls and ducks swooping over water, reeds brushing in the wind, and trees rustling under gentle breezes, subtle sounds and movements that urban sprawl had long silenced. Children raised among tarmac and traffic have a rare chance to press a hand into wet soil and learn that water, soil, flora and fauna come together to shape place.
The restoration also aims to benefit about 220,500 residents living in flood-prone or water-stressed neighbourhoods, offering greater resilience against heavy rainfall and water shortages.
At Nyabugogo and Gikondo, water-control systems including constructed ponds, artificial lakes and distribution channels capture runoff, regulate flow, filter sediment and pollutants, and stabilise water tables. These features may help mitigate floods and improve water quality for nearby communities.
Thus, the wetlands are part of a broader urban safety net, nature-based infrastructure supporting both ecological health and human well-being.
Community, equity and the challenge of stewardship
Yet the success of the initiative depends on people: engineers, planners, communities, volunteers and everyday users. REMA has deployed hundreds of youth volunteers to raise awareness, monitor illegal dumping, prevent encroachment and engage residents around the wetlands.
For a city under pressure from urban expansion, land demand and industrial growth, wetlands remain fragile unless there is a collective commitment to protect them. That requires inclusive governance, transparent rules for access and use, and ongoing community involvement.
The project balances ecological restoration with social equity and recreation. Plans include sports grounds, outdoor gym circuits, children’s play areas, bike-rental kiosks, souvenir stalls, and cultural event spaces, offering public value beyond nature and water management.
There are tensions to manage. Amenities and livelihoods must be weighed against ecological protection. Recreational use should not compromise habitat recovery. Water quality must be safeguarded. Access should remain equitable. Sustained maintenance, clear governance and community stewardship are essential to ensure wetlands remain living systems rather than display parks.
What Kigali gains and lessons for other cities
Kigali’s wetlands revival is more than a technical exercise. It represents a rethinking of urban infrastructure, shifting from seeing wetlands as wastelands to recognising them as vital green lungs, water regulators, public spaces, ecological habitats, sources of livelihood and urban dignity.
For residents, this means safe public spaces, trees, shade, water, recreation and livelihoods. For children and youth, it could mean reconnection to nature within city bounds. For vulnerable communities, it may offer flood protection, water security and opportunity. For the city, it offers a blueprint for sustainable urban growth, resilient to climate change, grounded in nature.
For other rapidly urbanising African capitals, Kigali’s approach suggests ecological restoration can be compatible with urban growth, natural infrastructure can complement built infrastructure, and green spaces can serve multiple functions: ecological, social and economic.
Wetlands, long undervalued, can be re-imagined as assets rather than obstacles, living parts of the city that nurture both water and life.
Restoring water and hope
As the sun rises over Kigali’s restored wetlands, reflections on muddy water, rustle of new leaves, distant calls of returning birds, and the soft tread of cycling paths under construction all point toward a city in transformation. The wetlands project restores water, soil and ecology, but also a sense of possibility. A modern African city can grow without erasing nature. Concrete can share space with wetlands. Urban life and ecological integrity can coexist.
If the work continues, with maintenance, community stewardship and inclusive access, Kigali may emerge not only as a city that grew, but as one that grew wisely. Wetlands may become foundations for a resilient, liveable urban future.
