Youth-Led Action to Protect Karago Lake: Plastic Waste Cleanup in Nyabihu District

Roots & Shoots Rwanda, in partnership with the INES Environmental Club, the Nyabihu Ecosystem Conservation Agency, and environmental clubs from the University of Rwanda – CAFF, successfully conducted a plastic waste cleanup along the shores of Karago Lake in Nyabihu District.

A Lake Worth Protecting

Karago Lake is one of Rwanda's important freshwater bodies — supporting local communities, agriculture, and biodiversity across Nyabihu District. Like many freshwater ecosystems in the region, it has been affected by plastic waste accumulation, threatening aquatic life and the communities that depend on it.

This cleanup was a direct response to that threat — practical, visible, and youth-led.

What Happened

Young volunteers from INES Ruhengeri, UR-CAFF environmental clubs, and the Nyabihu Ecosystem Conservation Agency came together to physically remove plastic waste from the lakeshore.

The results were immediate and tangible: bags of plastic removed, shoreline cleared, and an ecosystem given a little more room to breathe.

More Than a Cleanup

The significance of this event goes beyond the plastic removed. Events like this one do three things at once:

They protect an ecosystem. Plastic waste removed from a lakeshore is plastic that will not enter the water, will not harm aquatic life, and will not affect the communities downstream.

They build habits and identity. When young people spend a day protecting a lake, they leave with a different relationship to that place — and to their own role in protecting it.

They demonstrate a model. Multi-organization youth-led cleanups are replicable. The collaboration between INES, UR-CAFF, and the Nyabihu Ecosystem Conservation Agency shows what is possible when organizations align around a shared environmental goal.

Partners

• INES Environmental Club
• Nyabihu Ecosystem Conservation Agency
• University of Rwanda – CAFF Environmental Clubs