The community of men and women who make Rwanda’s infrastructure, environmental features, and amenities visible, accessible, and readable on the global and geospatial maps have set a new task of making the country’s native trees visible worldwide.
The OpenStreetMap Rwanda-Ecomappers community celebrated its 10th anniversary on June 14 to mark a decade of engaging youth in voluntary work that has seen tens of thousands of buildings, locations, and their attributes in Rwanda visible online.
Ecomappers in Rwanda are people who, out of interest in geography and data entry, simplify the lives of others to find and access locations in Kigali and beyond – and this is done on a voluntary basis and out of love for data and geographical facts.
At the anniversary celebrations, the community was given a task to “Make Kigali floristically made in Rwanda” or alternatively “Make Rwanda floristically made in Rwanda.”
Why? According to Dr. Elias Bizuru, a Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Rwanda (UR) and Biodiversity Expert, Rwanda is rich in rare native species, and many of these have been discovered over the years, but this richness is not known to many and has not been mapped.
Dr. Bizuru showed that through the Biodiversity restoration and community-based solutions in Rwanda (COMBIO project), they learned and collected data that shows the country is home to unknown and extinct native tree species (45) of which some cannot be found anywhere but in Rwanda.
Dr. Elias Bizuru
For instance, a natural coffee tree (Coffea eugenioides) which is found in Karushuga, Huye, and Cyamudongo. Its uniqueness: very vibrant with a unique set of flavor characteristics – for its sweetness, low acidity, and smooth and silky mouthfeel, has a low caffeine content compared to the ordinary we consume.
The market price of Coffea eugenioides has quadrupled in just four years
as demand far outstrips supply – $200 per roasted kg against $6/kg for Coffea arabica.
Another rare species discovered and only found in Karushuga-Nyagatare district is the Diospyros abyssinica (Ebony tree) – “Inkungu.” Its timber is used for heavy flooring, poles, interior trim, mine props, long-lasting furniture, but also medicinal: Malaria, dysentery treatment.
Bizuru noted that despite having worked with Rwandan ecomappers in planting native trees across the country (covering 41.8 ha of the planned 188.4 ha), the OSM community has to use this rich data to make the locations and attributes available on the global map.
“We have to ecomap these native trees because they will help us in future predictions in the next generation and avoid loss as there is a problem of climate change that mostly affects biodiversity,” Bizuru said.
“My dream is to make Kigali floristically made in Rwanda because 99% of trees in Kigali are exotic, and in order to promote ‘made in Rwanda,’ we have to rethink this by promoting native trees – so that when a visitor comes to Kigali, they don’t see the same trees they saw in Zimbabwe or Ethiopia,” Bizuru stated.
The Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA), which works closely with ecomappers, said that the OSM community will be very key in implementing this dream but they can also take it further beyond Kigali city.
“We agree with the task to ‘Make Kigali floristically made in Rwanda’ – but we can even go beyond Kigali – We need to ‘Make Rwanda floristically made in Rwanda,'” said Laura Rurangwa, the project Manager Nile Congo Divide at RFA.
Rurangwa tasked the OSM Rwanda community to start this new task by finding the names of places which have been named after names of native trees – Kimironko, Kibagabaga, Munyinya, etc., and then plant a tree in that area.
Laura Rurangwa, the project Manager Nile Congo Divide at RFA
Promising to provide the native seeds and logistical support, Rurangwa asked the ecomappers to start by mapping all areas in Rwanda which have names of trees – then get the seeds and involve local government to get the seeds and planting.
“We have the money. Just do the digital work of mapping then the means needed will be made available. That is a project that we should all commit to now,” Rurangwa said.
10 Years of Success:
OSM Rwanda ecomappers back in 2015
The story of OpenStreetMap Rwanda started with a spark of inspiration from a group of passionate Rwandan students at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania.
After gaining skills in mapping disaster-prone areas in a foreign country, the students led by Jeannette Nyinawumuntu Rebecca returned to Rwanda with energy and vision which involved laying the foundation for what would become the vibrant OpenStreetMap (OSM) community in Rwanda.
From 2016 to 2019, the community steadily grew—holding monthly mapathons and the uniquely Rwandan Umuganda Mapathons, where civic mapping and national solidarity came together. One major highlight was the Mappers Mpazi project in Nyabugogo, focusing on disaster resilience mapping in flood-prone zones.
OSM Rwanda ecomappers after a decade
From 2021 to 2022, the community came back stronger, leading innovative and impactful projects such as: Rwanda Mountain Tea Project – Supporting women in agriculture and promoting food security development, Nyandungu Wetlands Mapping – A key effort in environmental restoration and conservation.
Others are: MapHerWorld Project – Mapping health facilities serving women and girls, and promoting gender-focused data, Nyabihu–Shyira Flood Resilience Project – Engaging youth and communities in mapping for disaster preparedness, Anticipatory Action Mapping in Ngororero District – Including tree planting for slope stabilization and climate resilience.
From humble beginnings, OSM Rwanda (with over 200 volunteers) has become a model of how open data, community collaboration, and youth engagement can drive meaningful change.
Jeannette Nyinawumuntu Rebecca, OSM Rwanda Ecomappers Founder and Executive Director.
“So today, as we celebrate 10 years of this amazing journey, we honor the founders, the volunteers, the partners, and every single mapper who has made this community what it is today,” said Nyinawumuntu Rebecca, the OSM Rwanda Executive Director.
Moving Forward:
Bernard Hakizimana
Bernard Hakizimana, a support foundation figure of the community, said that from day one, the OSM Rwanda community has been localized to respond to Rwandan needs which are unique from the UK where the movement started, thus a need to tackle the challenge of promoting native tree species.
“We need to map these native trees because they are valuable. As ecomappers, we must take action since Professor Bizuru cannot do everything alone,” Hakizimana said.
Hakizimana said that OSM Rwanda has to use technology to benefit from the knowledge embedded in mapping native trees, it is business value that ensures there is information that can be preserved and referred to in the future.
“Let’s challenge ourselves to move from the boring digitization as a mapper or geographer to use this data today for tomorrow to understand what is happening now so that it can be referred to in the years ahead of us,” Hakizimana said.
