Environmental Conservation in Rwanda
Senior 2 · Geography and Environment
Environmental Conservation in Rwanda
Lesson 2 of 3
20 min
By 2001, the Gishwati forest had shrunk to a small patch. By 2007, Akagera's black rhinos had been poached out, and in 1999 Nyungwe's last elephant was killed. Each loss followed years in which people took more from the environment than it could replace. This is called over-exploitation. To prevent it, you first need to understand its causes and effects.
Over-exploitation means using a resource faster than it can be replaced, so that the stock shrinks year after year. Examples: cutting trees faster than they regrow, catching fish before they can breed, farming the same soil every season without restoring its nutrients, and draining wetlands.
| Over-exploited resource | Effects |
|---|---|
| Forests | Soil erosion and landslides, siltation of rivers, loss of habitat, less rain recycled locally, fuelwood shortage |
| Wildlife | Local extinction: Nyungwe lost its last buffalo (1974) and last elephant (1999), and Akagera lost its lions and black rhinos before they were reintroduced |
| Soils | Soil exhaustion (loss of fertility), falling crop yields, hunger |
| Wetlands | Floods, drying streams in the dry season, dirtier water, loss of papyrus birds |
| Fisheries | Falling catches, smaller fish, lost income for fishing families |
| Minerals and quarries | Open pits, polluted streams, abandoned land |
The effects feed each other. Forest loss causes erosion, erosion silts rivers, and silt damages fisheries and power stations. Farmers on exhausted soils then clear more land. Geographers call this a vicious circle.
Rwanda has about 24,668 km² of land (its area without the lakes) and 13,246,394 people (2022). How much land is there per person, in hectares? (1 km² = 100 ha)
This tiny share explains why farmers push into steep slopes, wetlands and forest edges, and why intensifying farming and protecting what remains matter so much.
Tip
Exam technique. For "explain the effects of over-exploitation", link each cause to its effect with "… which leads to …". For example: "cutting trees for charcoal removes ground cover, which leads to soil erosion, which leads to silted rivers." A chain of three links shows real understanding.
Solution: using a resource faster than it can be replaced, so the stock keeps shrinking.
Solution: dependence on firewood and charcoal for cooking, and clearing forest for farmland by families with little land.
Solution: the wetland no longer stores rainwater, so water rushes straight into rivers and they overflow.
Solution: the elephant (the last one was killed by poachers).
Solution: 600,000 ÷ 1,200 = 500 people per km².
Summary
Sources and credits
The cause and effect tables, the worked example and the practice items are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
