Memoire Online - Environmental and socio-economic impact of land use change. Case study of Gishwati forest in Rwanda

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF RWANDA
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
OPTION: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
ACADEMIC YEAR 2012

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
academic requirements for the award of Bachelor?s
Degree in Geography

Option: Environmental Management
By: Jean de Dieu TWAYIGIRA
Supervisor: Dr.Emmanuel HAVUGIMANA

I, Jean de Dieu TWAYIGIRA, a student at national university of Rwanda, faculty of science, department of geography, option of environmental management, hereby declare that this dissertation entitled «environmental and socio-economic impacts of land use change in Rwanda: Case study of Gishwati forest» is my own work, any other used document is highlighted on the list of references and it has not been submitted anywhere for the award of any degree.

To my beloved Mother Anastasia NYIRARUVUGO To my brother Jean Népomuscène UWITIJE

Without your special love and support, I never would have become who I am today. More than anyone else, I dedicate this work to you.

First of all, I thank the Almighty God in heaven that allowed me, through His grace and mercy, to live in the campus where living conditions were different.

Especially, I warmly thank my supervisor Dr Emmanuel HAVUGIMANA to host me and to direct me during my research preparation despite his other responsibilities which are not easy. Not only that, but also your hardworking and commitment was an inspiration and a valuable input to my personality. Thank you for endless cycle of ideas you provided for me.

I am very grateful to the National University of Rwanda for having provided time for final research preparation. Particularly, I acknowledge the department staff and lecturers for their full support, before and during the research process, Thank you for your kindness and guidance to us.

Sincere appreciation is extended to Mr Gaspard BYUKUSENGE and his family who gave me encouragement and assistance to join my Undergraduate studies.

The field survey in mountainous region of Rutsiro district was an opportunity for me, Environmental Management student to discover the real world. I highly appreciate and acknowledge Rutsiro for its support.

Finally, my thanks go to all my classmates with whom I shared, exchanged ideas, and learnt together each and every day. Your moral support was of great importance.

Table 2.Evolution of forests and natural reserves between 1958 and 2000 (in ha) 20

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to analyze the environmental and socio-economic impacts of land use change in Gishwati forest. This later is one among the ones with the highly reduced areas in Rwanda.

The destruction of this forest is nervous. In the 42 years, it was destroyed so that there remained 2% in 2000. It had an area of 28000ha in 1958 and in 2000 it stayed with only 600ha.

This study revealed some of the consequences that the surrounding population and environment in general have been subjected to.

To reach the objective of this, various techniques and methods were undertaken, such as library documentation, field observation and interviews with different people who are concerned with the environment.

The results showed that the impacts that affected the population around Gishwati forest are those which have also been caused by some of these populations themselves.

The pointed out nervous are ecological, socio-economic and vital such as erosion, flooding, landslides, property losses and reduction in medicinal plants as well as human losses which has led to a brake with the national development.

To overcome damage caused by the changes in land uses, the local population must fiercely struggle so that the restoration could be sustained; partners may leverage funding in kind of services or other supports needed to accomplish restoration project.

Land use can be defined as the» Purposes for which humans exploit the land cover. It involves both the manner in which biophysical attributes of the land are manipulated and intent underlying that manipulation; it means the purpose for which the land is used?. Land use comprises both natural and human factors. It provides environmental conditions that support life including human life and it also reflects human activities. While land use is mainly a direct manifestation of human activities, land cover changes may result from natural processes or from human activities.

Farming is an important human activity that contributes to land use change. Approximately 11 percent of the earth?s landmass is now used for crops. Farming has been changing with rural population increase that triggered the expansion of cultivated areas and intensification of production. Some agricultural experts claim that as much as half of 7.2 billion ha of present forest and grazing land especially in Africa and South America could be converted to crop production, given the proper inputs of water, fertilizers, erosion control and mechanical preparation. Although this land could feed vastly large human population, sustained intensive agriculture could results in serious environmental and social problems.

Rapidly increasing human population and expanding forestry and agriculture have brought extensive land use changes throughout the World. However, in many places it has proven difficult to manage natural forests because of higher dependency of population on natural resources for agricultural, energy, nutritional, medicinal, and other needs.

Also natural forests in developing countries are often viewed as a source of income from timber, oil, mineral exploitation, or tourism by the government. In addition, inadequate government resources, weak management capacities and ineffective legal systems have compounded the problem of natural forest management in developing countries (Salasfky and Wollenberg 2000, in Masozera, 2002).

Humans have affected every part of the Globe. Over the past few decades, billions of ha of forests, woodlands and grasslands have been converted to cropland or permanent pasture, but overharvesting, erosion, pollution and other forms of degradation also have turned large area into desert or useless scrub. Biodiversity losses resulting from disruption of natural ecosystems are of great concern. This appears through the cutting down of forest, overgrazing of grassland and overusing of marginal land.

At the continental level, the climate of Africa especially the Eastern part supports a variety of forest and woodland cover. Approximately 13 percent of the total land area in East Africa is covered by forest and woodland and this constituted approximately 5 percent of the total African cover. The major issue in this sub-region is the conversion of natural forest to alternative land uses, predominantly cultivation and grazing, although urban encroachment is also a contributing factor. Clearance of forest and woodland for agricultural use to feed the growing population is perhaps the single most important cause of deforestation in East Africa. The impact of deforestation and degradation of wooded areas include increased potential soil erosion and loss of soil fertility, alteration of local climatic and hydrological conditions and changes in biodiversity.

Rwanda?s economy and the livelihoods of its people are dependent on the environment and natural resources such as water, land, air, minerals, plants, and animals. These natural resources are increasingly under pressure from unsustainable use resulting in environmental degradation as well as decline in ecosystem goods and services that restrict to economic development (REMA, 2008).

Although concern for the environment is not a recent phenomenon, management of natural forest in Rwanda has become very complex. Extreme population pressure on limited available land resources and a decade of genocide that has resulted in movement and resettlement of population in protected areas are the major challenges to manage the natural forests. So the population dynamics have been the point of departure of various transformations that characterize land use types in Rwanda. The population increase has led to land clearing for agriculture, Grazing and housing, harvesting of certain plant species for traditional medical purposes and indiscriminate setting for forest fires. This has led to environmental degradation in terms of biodiversity

(MINITERE, 2003). Environment continues to be degraded at a rapid pace due to land use change. In 1934, one year after Gishwati forest reserve founded, the Mukura-Gishwati-Volcanoes forest complex in the north-west of Rwanda was a single forest block of 833sq km. By 1955 it was divided into three discrete patches and today only 18 percent of the original forest remained. In the mid-1970s, Gishwati constituted approximately 280sq km and the forest was fairly destroyed because of cattle herding (Weber, 1981), agriculture and settlement. During and after the 1994 war, Rwanda faced the resettlement of the returnees and internally displaced persons due to the lack of other public land, community administration decided to utilize the part of the forest as resettlement sites (MINITERE, 2003). Spontaneous occupation of Gishwati has led to deforestation and consequently to environmental degradation (biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and disturbed hydrology) hence disruption in socio-economic conditions of local population.

As many developing countries, Rwanda is also dependent on agriculture. Over 90 percent of Rwandans are engaged in subsistence agriculture. In many areas of the country, intensive crop cultivation is a common practice, which cannot be sustained. It is especially prevalent where farms have been subdivided several times as they pass from one generation to another. In many cases, the inherited farm lots are too small, averaging less than 1 ha to support a family. This fragmentation of family holdings through generational transfers has led to the expansion of cultivation onto marginal lands and natural forests. Due to this and other factors pointed out earlier, natural forests in Rwanda have reduced from approximately 30 per cent at the turn of the last century to 7 percent of the total land area (Olson et al.1999, in Masozera, 2002).

However vast natural forest has been affected by anthropogenic disturbances: forest conversion into pasture, cropland and settlement as shown in the aforementioned paragraphs. This has resulted in environmental degradation (Plumptre, Masozera et al. 2002).

Gishwati forest reserve was founded in 1933. Prior to the Rwandan civil war, Gishwati forest reserve had been heavily affected by human activities. The forest reserve was in extent approximately 280 sq km in the mid 1970s, of which 100 sq km was converted to pasture and another 100 sq km to pine plantations in the early 1980s. A 30 sq km area was designated as

military zone, leaving only 50 sq km of natural forest. During and following the war, part of this 50 sq km forest reserve was used for camps for displaced persons who both settled and farmed within the reserve thereby leading to its degradation (Plumptre, Masozera et al. 2002).

The increase in population around Gishwati area during the 1980s which led to an increase in livestock numbers hence increasing demand for grazing, settlement, cropland and fuel wood ( MINITERE, 2005). In addition, from 1978 to 1994 the Sylvo-pastoral project supported by the World Bank was the principal cause of degradation with the objectives of converting the bamboo forests into pasture land, pine and cypresses plantations (Seyler and Masozera, 2002) and accomplishing the agro-forestry and infrastructure activities. It started first by clearing the trees and replacing them by planting Kikuyu grass. In order to control the activity, GBK undertook infrastructure activities such as road construction and building of the Gatindoli centre and dairy farm in Musenyi.

After 1994, the remaining Gishwati forest was used for the settlement of refugees, since 1995, people have cleared the forest for settlement, grazing and crop land. Villages such as Arusha, Kanama, Musenyi, and Bitenga with an average land holding of 1 ha per household were established after clearing Gishwati forest. These villages depend largely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods. Due to the increase in the livestock production and limited pasture land, some used the forest for grazing. As a result the area was plagued with catastrophic longterm impacts and all of them aggravate local poverty and lowering the economic development of the region. These impacts include:

? Reduction of agricultural yields and loss of arable land (loss of nearly 1 million tons of soil per year) due to decreased soil fertility and erosion;

? Increased runoff, landslides and flooding that have claimed life and caused extensive material damages due to less retention of rainfall;

? Increased costs of maintenance of power and water supply infrastructures due to intense siltation and sedimentation;

? Disruption of traditional livestock grazing practices due to less fodder for livestock;

? Fewer opportunities for ecotourism and other future sustainable economic uses such as decreased availability of wood.

By all these reasons there is a huge environmental change occurring on this area. So on the research statement of problem is, (i) land use change in Gishwati area, (ii) destruction of reserve forest, and (iii) environmental degradation

Therefore this research will be conducted to analyze the effectiveness of Gishwati land use changes on the environment and socio-economic conditions of the population around the area in order to be taken into consideration while implementing and improving the National Strategies or Project for restoration and sustainable use of the environment. This information will enable the management authority to save and protect the remaining forest against unnecessary changes in use then achieve a double sustainability of Gishwati and human livelihoods.

+ Soil erosion &land degradation + Property loses & life claims + Hydrological alteration

The choice of this topic has been motivated by two main reasons which are personal and scientific.

Firstly, Gishwati forest is located in my home region so I am familiar to this forest. And the forest present indispensable importance both economic and environmental particularly to the population surrounding the forest as well as for all Rwandans. Therefore I will be able to analyze the changes of its use and contribute in giving solutions to these changes. The focus of this study is to contribute to sustainable management of the forest.

Secondly, as the area is one of the hotspot in the region with biodiversity richness, the work will provide some relevant information about the land use change which alters this biodiversity, specifically on Gishwati forest in terms of its sustainability and protection from these changes. The topic has been chosen with the goal of reinforcing my personal knowledge on the change in land use, especially natural forests with indispensable importance for the world?s population. Afterword, I was motivated to provision of some needed information that may play a role in life improvement of human being as well as to biodiversity.

The main objective of this research was to analyze the environmental and socio-economic impacts of forest changes on the local population.

1.4.2. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

In order to achieve the main objective, the following specific objectives were formulated:

1.4.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To structure the data collection, the following research questions were formulated:

This research is organized under four chapters and the following sections outline each chapter. Chapter one outlines the general background information on the land use change that natural forests encountered as a result of poor or absent management. This includes objectives and hypotheses pertaining to the study and the key guiding research questions were set out in order to get answers that assist to reach the main objective of the research. Research motivation and limitation also are included in this chapter.

The second Chapter gives an overview of the study area and details for the methods and materials by which the study was conducted. It presents also details on the instrumentation, data collection methodology and analysis techniques, which were used in the whole process. The chapter ends up by highlighting limitations that were encountered in the research.

The third chapter presents and discusses the detailed results of the research. Data from the survey questionnaires were computerized, tabulated and analyzed with the aid of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft word and statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics such as mean and percent distributions were generated to summarize the property of the dataset.

Data processing using GIS software have been also carried out for data analysis and presentation in order to generate maps. The major patterns in the observations, relationships, trends and generalizations among the results have been shown. Also some information on the hypotheses test has been provided.

The last chapter, chapter four highlights the general conclusion derived from the results and some recommendations or actions to be taken as a solution from what were found in the research to improve the protection and management of natural resources specifically Gishwati forest.

This chapter describes how the study was carried out. It therefore presents the research design, sources of data, various data collection techniques and methods, data processing and analysis appropriate to this research.

2.1. STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION 2.1.1. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

Gishwati forest is located in northwestern part of Rwanda. The mean slope gradient of the study area is 35 % at an elevation from 2000m to 3000m above sea level, from longitude 29⁰21^'40^''W to 29⁰28^'50^''E and latitude 1⁰36^'52^''N to 1⁰52^'17^''S (Uwimana, M.F, 2007). It is shared by three districts Rutsiro, Ngororero and Nyabihu.

2.1.2. DESCRIPTION OF BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

Gishwati is an albertine rift afro montane forest and constituted an important area of biodiversity. It had a population of chimpanzees and golden monkeys as well as blue monkeys. It has also a big number of birds and plants species which are endemic.

2.1.3. THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE LOCAL POPULATION

More than 90% of Rwandans live in rural areas and depend highly on agriculture (MacMillan, 2005:12). Certain people practice also livestock. The population on the Congo Nile ridge, at the altitude from 1900 to 2500 m with a rainfall between 1300 and 2000 mm, cultivate essentially sweet potatoes, maize, beans and peas (ONAPO, 1982:178). Munyensanga (2006:19) said that the population around Gishwati was about 360000 inhabitants with a density of 250 to 400 inhabitants by square km. this density which increase progressively push the population to exploit the forest in order to satisfy their basic needs (food, pasture) and searching for money by selling the entire species of trees or by transforming them. The majority of populations live essentially of agriculture.

2.3. DATA SOURCES

The research objective cannot be achieved without adequate and needed data. These data will be collected both from secondary and primary sources of data.

2.3.1. SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA

Relevant secondary spatial and attributes data will be collected. Spatial data (shape files) include topographic maps, road networks and aerial photos. Both personal communication and literature review will be applied in data collection.

Literature review will focus on published works such as books, reports, articles, journals, maps, and aerial photographs from both online resources and libraries such as NUR libraries, and from governmental institutions such as REMA, NAFA, and some ministries such as MINAGRI, MINIRENA, etc... In addition to these some information will be delivered from services in charge of statistics of districts.

The maps from CGIS, MINAGRI or NAFA will be analyzed in order to interpret them and discover from them the needed information. The image of Gishwati land cover before 1994 and after will be analyzed in order to detect the changes. This will serve particular to the analysis of the topography and the cover/delimitations of the different types of land areas of Gishwati forest.

2.3.2. PRIMARY SOURCES OF DATA

This approach will involve field observation and survey, interviews using questionnaires to the randomly chosen sample from the population around the study area in both Rutsiro and Nyabihu districts. The oral interviews with the local authorities and districts officers in charge of forests and environment will be conducted.

In order to get the accurate information, a sample of questionnaires will also be distributed to the later residents of Gishwati who were resettled to the other place in Rubavu district and in some cells around the forest where they have been grouped into imidugudu.

2.3.2.1. INTERVIEWS AND QUESTIONNAIRES

This is the commonly used method of collecting information from people. This will involve the researcher reading the questions to the respondents and recording their answers in taking notes.

There was any personal interaction, face to face in order to help respondents to understand well the questions.

A questionnaire is a written list of questions, the answers to which are recorded by respondents. The questionnaires will be used in the interview in order to do not lose some of the provided questionnaires when distributed in the people so that the sample will remain accurate to draw a conclusion from it.

? People who have been living outside and close to the forest before and nowadays

? People who moved to the forest looking for opportunities as farmers and so on and

2.3.2.2. SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Sampling is the process of selecting a few (a sample) from a bigger group (the sampling population) to become the basis for estimating or predicting the prevalence of an unknown piece of information, situation or outcome regarding the bigger group. A sample is a sub group of the population you interested in.

Systematic random sampling was used to get different point of views on environmental and socio economic impacts of land use change in Gishwati forest.

From sample findings, you make an estimate of their prevalence in the study population.

The study area for the interviewing is «a household» and the sampling method that was used is systematic random sampling to identify the household to be interviewed and instead of determining the sample range basing on the universe (population surrounding the study area) and sample size, the research will consider the size of the sample and the number of questionnaire copies that were available in each particular area.

The first interviewee will be selected randomly (n1), then n2= n1+Sr, n3= n2+Sr, n4=n3+Sr etc until the sampling number is reached.

Thus the total size of the sample was 60 questionnaires in this research whereby 25 questionnaires have been administered in villages where people were resettled, 17 questionnaires were for the interviewees who have been living around and close to the forest, 15 questionnaires for the people who moved to the forests as farmers, 2 questionnaires for the local authorities and 1 for the district officer in charge of environment.

The above table highlights the sample size in Ruhango sector and the systematic random sampling took place in two cells with two villages in each one.

2.3.2.3. FIELD OBSERVATION

The completion of this research will need the field work by which the observation, interviews, image capturing and GIS software will intervene.

2.4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Once data were obtained from the field, they have been cleaned and analyzed before to be interpreted. Appropriate methods for analysis depend on the objectives, the study design, and nature of observations. Regarding to the nature of data, the research found descriptive statistics in the analysis.

To analyze the data collected, we used SPSS and Microsoft office excels to generate figure and graphs and then after, these were interpreted.

This chapter focuses on literature review and the analysis of the data collected and the answered questions stated in chapter one. The general objective of this study was to analyze the environmental and socio-economic impacts of forest changes on the local population specifically Gishwati forest in Rutsiro and Nyabihu districts. This chapter targets the elements that prove relevant findings relating to the changes of Gishwati forest and its impacts which take into consideration the sampled respondents of the present study conducted in the aforementioned areas.

3.1. LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1.1. INTRODUCTION

This has explored the literature related to the study. Different books, journals, articles and reports were investigated to conceptualize and explore knowledge gap in the study of environmental and social economic change.

3.1.2. DEFINITIONS OF KEY WORDS

Environment is a complex of external factors that act on a system and determine its course and form of existence. An environment may be thought as a superset, of which the given system is a subset. An environment may have one or more parameters, physical or otherwise.

Environmental change is a major problem of the world. The environment of Gishwati has changed since 1930s. Many researchers tried to focus on different issues and aspects of environmental change. The extensive farming systems requiring large land areas have contributed most to encroachment of agriculture land and forest clearance with increased degradation of land and destabilization of ecosystems.

Mohsen Ahadnejad (2000) , in Khalid Bin Musa (2008) describes environmental protection is faced a critical problems due to several factors such as the increasing population, demolishing natural resources, environmental pollution, land use planning as well as others. Presently unplanned changes of land use have become a major problem. Most land use changes occur

without a clear and logical planning with any attention to their environmental impacts. Major flooding, air pollution in large cities as well as deforestation, urban growth, soil erosion, desertification are all consequences of a mismanaged planning without considering environmental impacts of development plans. Desertification is a common consequence of improper land use change.

Land use the relationship between man and land is inseparably closed. That means, land has been the source of mans food, shelter, clothes, etc, that is why, people have been using land in many ways which is changed according to place and time as well as the social and economical needs of people, so I think man has to know about the land resources and land use in order to meet his own needs. The term land use has been attempted to be defined differently from various perspectives by different scholars. Land use has been seen as a product of interactions between a society cultural background, skill and its physical needs in one hand and the natural potential of land on the other hand (Rarn and Kolarkar 1993, in Khalid Bin Musa (2008). Land use is also defined as people?s activities on land which are directly related to land (Clawson and Stewart 1965), (Burley, 1961) in Khalid Bin Musa (2008).

The barriers of the development are our population and a limited land resource. Land use is very important both to the user of the land parcel as well as to understand the environment around. The land use pattern of an area changes along with time according to need. The changes are related to the overall functional demand and physical environmental change. Without knowing the land use changing pattern, it is impossible to make a future development plan for an area or a region (Khorram et al. 1991, in Khalid Bin Musa (2008). For the best use of any parcel of land, it is very essential to know the potentiality of that land resource and the land use changing trend of that area. At a more mundane level, interaction occurs between everyday behavior and future land use patterns: existing land use arrangements in part determine where people live, where they work, and how and when they travel there, where they shop, where they play, etc., while such behavior in turn helps to shape future land use patterns (Rhind and Hudson, 1980, in Khalid Bin Musa (2008). The major land uses worldwide are shown in the below figure.

Land cover refers to the surface cover on the ground, whether vegetation, urban infrastructure, water, bare soil or other. It is important to distinguish the difference between land cover and land use and the information that can be assigned from each.

As the earth's population increases and national economies continue to move away from agriculture based systems, cities will grow and spread. The urbanization often infringes upon viable agricultural or productive forest land, neither of which can resist nor deflect the overwhelming momentum of urbanization.

Forestry forests are valuable resource providing food, shelter, wildlife habitat, fuel, and daily supplies such as medicinal ingredients and paper. Forests play an important role balancing the earth's CO2 supply and exchange, acting as a key link between the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. Tropical rainforest in particular house an immense diversity of species, more capable of adapting to and therefore surviving, changing environmental conditions than monoculture forests.

3.1.3. GENERALITY ON THE FOREST OF RWANDA

The forests of Rwanda have experienced the alarming deforestation in the last decades which has led to the extinction of the almost their total surface area.

Table 2.Evolution of forests and natural reserves between 1958 and 2000 (in ha)

Formation	1958	1970	1980	1990	1996	2000	now in %
Natural forests	634 000	591 800	513 600	415 200	383 700	221 200	35
Nyungwe + Cyamudongo	114 000	108 800	97 500	97 500	94 500	92 400	81
Gishwati	28 000	28 000	23 000	8 800	3 800	6 00	2
Mukura	3 000	3 000	2 100	2 100	1 600	1 200	40
VNP	34 000	16 000	15 000	12 800	12 800	12 000	35
Akagera NP	241 000	241 000	241 000	241 000	241 000	90 000	37
Hunting domain of Umutara	64 000	45 000	45 000	34 000	0	0	0
Savanna of the East + galleries	150 000	150 000	90 000	55 000	30 000	25 000	17
Planted forest	24 500	27 200	80 000	247 000	232 500	252 000	1028 000
Total	658 500	619 000	593 600	696700	616700	473 200	72

3.2. PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

When analyzing the impacts of land use change it is important to understand the different land uses being undertaken in the study region, and the variety of ways in which they have been changing in recent years. Land use change is not a simple matter of a shift in the area of land used for a particular commodity; it may involve a range of changes including change in what is produced on the land, how it is produced, and the intensity of production, amongst others.

Understanding land use change requires carefully defining what is considered to be a land use', so that changes in these land uses can be examined. Defining a land use can be challenging -- what activities should be considered to form part of a single land use' when every land use can be undertaken in many ways? While some sectors and interest groups may adopt formal definitions of particular land uses, in this study land uses were defined based on the ways participants defined them in everyday language.

A wide range of land uses in the interviews, and often used multiple terms to refer to a particular land use. It was not always clear where the boundaries of one type of land use ended and another land use began. Interviewers were therefore asked to discuss the similarities and differences between different land uses; to assist in defining what should be considered a single land use, and where an activity may need to be split into more than one type of land use.

The following key categories of land use are discussed in turn below. For each, the various ways the land use was defined, and the way it has been defined for this research based on the discussion held in the interviews, is described:

3.2.1. WHAT DOES LAND USE CHANGE INVOLVE?

Land use change was identified as any shift in how land was used in the region, and could involve any commercial, non-commercial or other utilization or experience of land considered relevant by interview participants. This broad definition was used to ensure participants themselves defined land use change, rather than pre-determining the types of things that might be considered land use change?.

Land use change is commonly thought of as involving a change in the amount of land used for a particular purpose. In reality, it is more complex. Interviewers identified that land use change may involve some or all of the following:

? Changes in the way a land use is undertaken, including the technology used, efficiency of production and methods of production

? Change in local and regional economic activity dependent on different land uses, e.g. changes in the types of businesses needed to supply goods and services, and

This range of types of change is important to recognize. A change in intensity or efficiency of land use can have socio-economic impacts that are as significant as those resulting from a change in the total area of land used for a particular purpose. For example, intensification of a particular land use such as cropping can result in higher employment per hectare, and a greater local economic activity due to more inputs being used and greater volume of outputs being produced per hectare. This may have impacts as significant as those resulting from a change in the total area of land used for cropping.

3.2.2. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF LAND USE CHANGE

After listing the land use changes they had observed, interviewers were asked to prioritize which were the most important or significant. This was asked in a relatively open way, and when clarification was requested it was suggested that this should be those land uses which interviewers considered to have had the greatest or most important impacts (not necessarily either positive or negative) on the part of the study region they were familiar with, which they were most enthusiastic to discuss, or which they felt should be investigated further in the Land Use Change study.

Interviewers were given five stickers, and asked to prioritize significant land uses by placing their stars against those land uses they felt were most important. They could choose to put all five stickers against a single land use, to allocate their stickers to multiple land uses, or to use only some of their stickers. Once all interviewers had indicated their priorities, land use changes were ranked from highest importance (those with the greatest number of stickers) to least (those with few or no stickers).

The land use changes identified as being important? by many participants in interviews were:

? Increase in the area of land used for cropping, and a range of changes in how cropping is undertaken

? Changes in the dairy industry, which varied but included increase in the area used for dairy farming in some parts of the region, decreases in other parts, intensification and increasing herd size

? Farm amalgamation (across all types of agriculture), associated with increased farm size, and increased efficiency enabling a farmer to manage larger areas

As with the process of analyzing land use and land use changes, the first stage of analysis of impacts involved grouping similar impacts into categories. While there were important differences in the impacts described as resulting from different types of land use change, the individual impacts described could be grouped into the categories of impacts on:

+ Local and regional economic activity: spending and flows of goods and services at the local and regional level.

+ Population and demographics: numbers of residents in region and in local areas, as well as diversity of these populations with regard to age, length of residence, income and other salient characteristics.

+ Community interaction and cohesion: the extent to which members of a community interact, and levels of consensus and conflict in communities.

+ Employment availability and types: the type and quantity of jobs available in different industries

+ Environmental conditions: condition of soil, streams, and native vegetation in region + Water use and availability: amount of water available for domestic and industrial uses + Land prices and markets: change in the price of land suitable for particular land uses, and

+ Infrastructure condition and use: change in the provision and condition of infrastructure such as roads, housing, and water distribution facilities.

3.2.3. IMPORTANCE OF FOREST

Forest and other areas covered by trees play a great role in the survival of human population; being suppliers of shelters and food for individuals and animals, water, medicinal plants, construction materials and fuels (PNUE, 2002:130).

Table 3: Main hydrographic networks draining in the mountainous forests(Runyinya, 1982).

This table shows the role of forests on the environment and on rainfall. In this forest some rivers flow to Congo basin via Lake Kivu and others to Nile Basin via Nyabarongo River.

Forests regulate equally the quality of the soil and water, in protecting the soil against erosion and contributing to their fertility, in intercepting rainfall they canalize the flow of water.

In Rwanda, 70% of cultivated land and 60% of pasture land were threatened by erosion because the slopes are over 5%for cultivated land and 10 % for pasture land (ONAPO, 1982:150).

By the fact of its position in latitude, Rwanda is located in the equatorial domain. A combination of tropical location and high altitude ensures that most of Rwanda has a temperate year-round climate

The occidental regions where localized Gishwati forest, are more arose with a mean of 1800mm of rainfall per year. These high precipitations expose the land of these regions to the erosion (Hitimana, 2006:15)

3.2.4. SPATIAL EVOLUTION OF GISHWATI

Being attacked by different land uses, Gishwati forest has became gradually reduced at a rapid pace as shown by the figure below.

³⁰⁰⁰⁰ ²⁵⁰⁰⁰ ²⁰⁰⁰⁰ ¹⁵⁰⁰⁰ ¹⁰⁰⁰⁰ ⁵⁰⁰⁰ ⁰ Source: Field survey, author, 2012

3.2.3. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Deforestation is one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Trees and other plants remove carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis. Both the decay and burning of wood release this stored carbon back to the atmosphere. It can cause the destruction of the habitats that support the biological diversity thus causing population shifts and extinction. Deforestation generally increases rates of soil erosion, by increasing the amount of runoff and reducing the protection of the soil from tree litter.

Forestry operations themselves also increase erosion through the development of roads and the use of mechanized equipment. Deforestation can be accompanied by some degree, the gradual reduction of water resources by deforested region; desertification is an extreme result. Forests support considerable Biodiversity.

Deforestation percolates into the soil where deforested areas become sources of surface water runoff, increasing potential for flooding.

Removal of trees does not always increase erosion rates. In certain regions shrubs and trees have been encroaching on grassland. The trees themselves enhance the loss of grass between tree

canopies. The bare inter canopy areas become highly erodible. MINIRENA is studying how to restore the former ecosystem and reduce erosion by planting the trees.

Tree roots bind soil together and act to keep the soil in place. Tree removal on steep slopes increases the risk of landslides.

All population around Gishwati natural forest has not got a land parcel in the forest as it is indicated in the following table.

Among 25 interviewees with parcel in the forest, 18.3% got the land before 1994 and 23.3% after 1994 and these are 41.6%of the total interviewed people. Other 58.3% do not have parcels in the forest but among them, some use the forest illegally. So the forest has been degraded before and after 1994 but before 1994 the degradation was not significant as the table shows. Among 25 with parcels in the forest about 44% got the parcels before 1994 and this shows that the forest began to be threatened before 1994. The 56% remains have allocated the parcel just after 1994 and the majority of them were returnees from DRC.

Among 60 interviewees about 53% accepted that the forest has gradually reduced by the occupation and farming of this before and after 1994 and this resulted into different impacts on environment and socio economic conditions of the surrounding population.

All these factors combined has led to the decline production of agriculture but also the

availability of other use of water such as hydro electrical power and domestic use of water and the relevant prove was the flooding in the Bitenga wetland. It was observed that the district of

Nyabihu is also experiencing significant impacts especially in Jomba sector whereby the last rainy season 7 persons dead,153 families have lost their properties and 385 houses have been destroyed according to the executive secretary of the sector.

After analyzing these results, we concluded that the set of these impacts has led to the decline of the internal national economy in general and on the surrounding regions in particular as they carried on the soil such as:

By these results we concluded that the second hypothesis which states that Local population is being affected by soil erosion and flooding resulting from the forest changes is confirmed.

3.2.4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS

Some societies are making efforts to stop or slow deforestation. In Gishwati, where large scale destruction of forests has occurred the government has required that every able-bodied citizen plants some trees per year or does the equivalent amount of work in other forest services.

In western countries, increasing consumer demand for wood products that have been produced and harvested in a sustainable manner are causing forest landowners and forest industries to become increasingly accountable for their forest management and timber harvesting practices. Agents of deforestation can be individuals or groups of individuals that are clearing the forest. Commercial farmers slash and burn farmers, cattle ranches and loggers are all agents of deforestation.

Agents are usually acting in their own self interest. Underlining causes include poverty, lack of land reform. The causes of deforestation are complex and change over time. Deforestation can be most easily be understood by studying the causes for each forest and country separately.

Forests are valuable habitat for wildlife. Direct economic benefits accrue from the harvest of forest resources such as wildlife, non-wood products like wild mushrooms, honey and medicinal herbs and from the sale of hunting and camping equipment.

Forests also play an important role in watershed protection, soil conservation and the recharge of aquifers.

They can also be the source of new drugs (like taxol) (Gyani Babu Juwa, 2000, in Khalid Bin Musa (2008).

Although timber production can be an important cause of deforestation, higher long-term gains can be obtained by managing forest lands to maintain forest cover. Forests are also important stores of organic carbon, and forests can extract carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air. Forests are also valued as a thing of aesthetic beauty and as a cultural resource. Deforestation results in the loss of these benefits.

«We do not have a definite parcel, according to our forces we used as enough land as possible because we were there and we did not have any other soil to exploit in order to satisfy our needs. But actually when we settled nobody was allocated a plot of more than 1 hectare» said one interviewee.

As said by the interviewees, they had different income generation activities in the forests and these are shown in the following table.

Activities	Effective	%
Farming	32	53.3
Forest products	5	8.3
Grazing	17	28.3
Household labor	3	5
Other (authority)	3	5
Total	60	100

About the half of the interviewees generate their incomes from agriculture and grazing and these two activities were mainly carried in the forest and these are the most likely to impact on the forest and lead to the tremendous soil erosion and flooding on the steep slopes of Kanama and other mountains around the forest. Forest products which accounts for 8.3 % of the respondents are thought to be a negative impacts on the forest itself but also on the other biodiversity in the forest.

So, these income generation activities are improving the livelihoods of surrounding population socially and economically but on the other hand they harm the environment in which these people live. By doing these, there was no integration of all factors in order to satisfy the forest need and to improve the local livelihoods.

As the forest was changed, many species that were used as traditional medicine were lost completely and this form of medicine has been highly affected.

Scientific names	Names	Maladies
Balthasarea schliebenii	Umufumbageshi	Rheumatism
Cluta abyssinica	Umutarishongi	Poison
Loberia giberroa, milletia	Intomvu	Poison
Psilopetala vernonea	Umunaniranzovu	Kugombora
Amygdalina	Umubirizi	Worms
Physalis peruviana	Imbubu	Cough

The decrease of these plants has made population to walk a long distance to search for traditional medicine and this leads to the lost both economically and socially. Other species which were used for wood fire were also threatened and also had a negative impact on the life of the population around Gishwati forest. These species include: umusebeya, umukore, umuyove, umugeshi, umwungo and umushubi.

3.2.5. HOW THE FOREST WAS OCCUPIED Table 7.Way of accessing to land into the forest

How	Effective	% of those with parcel in Gishwati	% of the sample (60 people)
Governmental authorization	4	16	6.6
Illegal encroachment	9	36	15
By inheritance	5	20	8.3
Buy	3	12	5
Gift	4	16	6.6
Total people with lands into the forest	25	100	41.6

The above table shows how people have got the land parcels in Gishwati natural forest. Among the interviewees with parcels in Gishwati 9% occupied the forest illegally for grazing and farming it.

Only16 % have been allowed by the local authority to occupy the land when they returned from DRC as there was no other land to be used by these refugees. Many of those illegally occupy the land were pushed by the fact that there was lower production on their own land out of the forest and the land were very small so they could not satisfy their needs and they wanted to be near or in the forest where they got fire wood without walking long hours.

So, they occupy the forest in order to improve their feedings and economy; as these occupied and used the land for different purposes the remaining of the population were affected by the impacts caused by these used forest but also themselves were affected by some of those impacts.

In doing so, 105 families were shifted from Gishwati forest especially in two villages Kinyenkanda and Karambagiro and were distributed in other villages of this cell.

3.2.6. THE VIEWS OF POPULATION ABOUT FOREST RESTORATION AND THEIR LIVELIHOODS

The forest restoration was not viewed and agreed at the same degree by all population because the conservation of this forest may have adverse social consequences on the local population?s livelihoods even if this could provide many advantages. These consequences include in among others:

? Deprivation of the communities to the opportunities necessary for their survival and development, including their basic social services.

? Lack of guaranteed access to resources is an impediment to a truly participatory approach at the community levels.

? Local communities may have been subjected to eviction often with grave consequences to their identity and future development. Indeed eviction also creates a kind of sociocultural stress.

? Relocated population loses not only the economic base of their survival but also undergo a considerable reduction of their cultural heritage due to the temporary or definitive loss of their behavioral models, their economic activities and their symbols. The living conditions of the community evicted from the forest can become worse as a direct result of their dislocation.

? There is no equitable balance between improving biodiversity conservation and improvements in human well being

3.2.7. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF GISHWATI LANDSCAPE

Despite its heavy destruction, Gishwati forest is being restored in order to turn it to its original form in biodiversity by making it an African ecotourism area.

A MINALOC commission organized a land sharing process between returnees and local resettled people in imidugudu. People were given houses, water tanks and other projects are helping these families and their relatives to improve their living conditions. These projects include:

? Nurseries of trees which can be planted with other crops and those which give fruits ? Construction of dairy as they are farmers and this is a participatory project

? Terracing and other erosion prevention methods in the mountains surrounding Bitenga zone (Rundoyi and Gihira cells) where they settle now.

All these projects were established to combat against climate change by REMA and this zone was selected by this later among the three zones in the whole country to test the climate change prevention. Population were asked to be grouped into cooperatives in order to be given money for implementing these projects but up to now some of these cooperatives have not legal status and this is a constraint to this program. There is only one cooperative with legal status (COPARUGI) and this was given the first round of money for this project.

After being relocated, there was rehabilitation of a big part of Gishwati which was destroyed through the great apes project of Americans by planting native species and bamboos surrounded by a belt of Arnos whereby more than 700 ha have been added to the remained area of Gishwati forest. The people who have been planted trees such as eucalyptus were obliged to remove them and this was done successfully. The sawmilling of these trees was allowed but the charcoal making was prohibited within the forest.

There is also a project for allocating improved seeds of sweet potatoes replacing maize, fertilizers such as NPK 171717 and pumps for these sweet potatoes so that there will not be conflicts between the population and monkeys in the forest by damaging their maize. This project is continuous.

According to the interview with in charge of agriculture in Ruhango sector, the economy was affected by the changes but after relocation and rehabilitation, the economy is being increased and this is also agreed by many interviewees as shown in the following figure.

The increase in economy is proved by the following indicators: ? Improved housing hence less expenditure in maintenance

? Schooling and health center (Bitenga) with a big number of employees ? Closeness to the authority and this offers many opportunities

The problem of safe drinking water shortage is still faced by this population but there is a project which will provide them the water.

All these infrastructures were provided by REMA (DEMP), MINALOC, MINIRENA and the district of Rutsiro.

3.2.9. THE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

People surveyed were proposing the following measures to be undertaken in order to overcome or to manage the destroyed Gishwati area.

V' Rehabilitation of the Gishwati forest by using the lost seeds of trees so that they get back their lost services by the forest such as medicine

V' Hunting and firewood collection prohibition in Gishwati forest for the survival of different species

V' Terracing around Gishwati forest and use of modern farming systems in order to fight against the soil erosion and devastating floods

V' Cultivation of selected seeds which do not influence conflicts between forest animals and the local population

V' Planting trees on the high mountains surrounding the forest for water retention and domestic use hence sustainability of the forest.

4.1. GENERAL CONCLUSION

Land use change in Rwanda is a very serious phenomenon which requires an urgent interaction. The direct impacts of this change are more important and numerous, they affect dairy humans livelihoods and the whole environment in general.

This change in land use could leads to serious poverty or to the transfer of mass population towards the favorable regions for their life.

The main objective of this research was to analyze the environmental and socio-economic impact of Gishwati forest changes on the local population. The results revealed that these impacts are more environmental than socio-economic. Soil erosion and flooding are influencing negatively the economy of local population and decline the quality of life of these later.

The most impacted part of Gishwati is that which was settled by the returnees from DRC especially in Ruhango sector as indicated by the table 4 showing that 25% of interviewees had parcels in the forest, even though the change began before, it was worsen just after 1994 by the returnees.

A big number of populations have occupied illegally the forest and use it for different purposes as they had no other enough land out of the forest to support their life.

These changes had many social consequences linked to the marginal economy of the population as almost of them practice agriculture. Thus 38% confirmed that effects of these are landslides, 28.3 % highlighted erosion and flooding as results of forest change and 13.3% confirmed that there are property losses including roads and houses.

The solution proposed by the population in order to overcome this problem included tree planting on the steep slopes around the forest which accounts for about 37, 21 % proposed the forest restoration for recovering the lost biodiversity and 32 % proposed to do not cultivate in the regions closer to the forest to prevent the conflicts between forest animals and local populations.

The family forestry also may result in the sustainable use or conservation of Gishwati forest because if each family owns its own forest, firewood collection will be reduced in this reserve, hence the sustainable conservation of biodiversity as highlighted by 10% of the respondent.

During our research, the proposed hypotheses have been verified and almost all of them have been confirmed.

In fact, our study has shown that the impacts which are faced by the population around Gishwati forest particular but also to the whole Rwandan environment as this has revealed to accelerate the speed of climate change.

4.2. RECOMMENDATIONS

Local communities are of the opinion that the government of Rwanda should encourage them through job creation, loans, investments, trainings and other assistance with or on sustainable basis of natural resources such as forests.

+ In order to protect the population against the impacts of forest change, the following recommendations have been established:

+ Researchers should proceed to sensitize the population the protection of environment by use the resources at a slow rate.

+ The government should reinforce development project in rural areas in order to encourage population to the management of Gishwati forest.

+ Decentralization of REMA towards the sector level should lower the harm of natural resources especially the use of forest products.

+ MINEDUC should integrate environment education in the programs of nursery, primary and secondary schools as a way to increase the level of perception of natural resources management.

+ Private sector and civil society should be engaged to participate in the green economy.

? It is imperative that local communities are adequately engaged as true agents of change and drivers of sustainable management of natural resources towards development.

? Partners should assist with monitoring of forest restoration projects and resources conditions as a critical component of adaptive management to help identify when an ecosystem?s resilience is reestablished.

? Strengthening institutional frameworks and focused policies to promote cross sector and participatory approaches to environmental and natural resources management.

? The use of modern stoves should also be encouraged in order to slow the use of firewood in the population around Gishwati forest.

16. William, P. C. and Mary, A. C., (2004). Principles of Environmental Science.

I am Jean de Dieu TWAYIGIRA, a student at national university of Rwanda in geography department option of environmental management. I am conducting an independent final research project entitled «Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts of land use change in Rwanda Case study of Gishwati forest» in order to get Bachelor?s degree in science. The objective of this questionnaire is to investigate how land use changes have been impact on the socioeconomic and environmental conditions in Rwanda specifically around Gishwati forest in western province.

You are chosen to participate because you have been purposively identified as participant. We would like to request you to kindly respond the attached questionnaire with honest. All responses provided will be used only for this research not for any other purpose, and no reference will be made to individual responses in this survey. The result might help decision makers to undertake action to solve identified problems.

Section I. attitude questions

Problems	Most important	More important	Somewhat important	Least important
Limited land
Limited food
Wild animal damage to crops

8. Are the forest products collected for the market or household consumption? If for the market, what quantity of the products is sold and how many do you gain from these products?

12. Compare the situation before the forest has been settled and after being settled. Was there any improvement or a detriment?