ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relevance of the issues raised by the two reports, and the challenges of establishing strong environmental governance in the context of post-conflict Rwanda. It provides an overview of the general environmental and political context in Rwanda. This political environment may have created conditions that contributed to the ability of the country's leadership to act on its convictions and bring about rapid environmental governance changes. The chapter describes the main environmental impacts of violent conflict in Rwanda from 1990-1994, and outlines the principal elements of the country's environmental governance regime before, during, and after the genocide. It examines some of the direct and indirect factors, respectively, that have contributed to the country's current environmental governance regime. The chapter illustrates the links between environmental governance and peacebuilding in Rwanda. It explains that in developing environmental governance structures in post-conflict societies, "character matters". Finally, the chapter concludes with lessons learned from Rwanda's experience.
