Land Use and Mapping
Land use and mapping services
The National Land Authority, which is a government agency responsible for managing and regulating land use and mapping across the country, provides services of land use and mapping through the Department of Land Use Planning and Mapping. Land use and mapping services are important for ensuring that land is used in a sustainable and equitable manner, and for promoting economic development and social welfare in Rwanda. Key land use and mapping services provided to the public and stakeholders are the following:
1. Land use registration: This service included in the process of registering and issuing land titles and certificates of ownership to landowners through various land transactions.
2. Land use planning and zoning: This service involves developing plans and regulations to guide land use and development in different areas, and zoning land for different uses, such as residential, commercial, public facilities, agricultural, etc as provided by the law N° 008/03 of 03/07/2022, Prime Minister’s Order determining modalities for land allocation and acquisition, emphyteutic lease, and State land concession and lease (article 18) and Zoning Plans and regulations. This service is reserved to government institutions at central and local government level. The land use master plans are published and accessed at geodata.rw/portal/home.
3. National Land Use and Development Master Plan (NLUDMP): This is a comprehensive plan that outlines the long-term development vision for the country's land resources. It sets out the overall land use framework for the country, NLUDMP 2020 – 2050 has been approved by Cabinet on 29/07/2020 and published in Official Gazette on 20/05/2022. The NLUDMP 2020 – 2050 is a well-designed countrywide plan stemming from Vision 2050 and which envisages the effective use of land for the country's economic development and which integratively covers all sectors ( PUSH standing for Population, Urbanization, Settlement, Housing, Spatial economy including Employment, Manufacturing, Industry, Mining, Agriculture, Environmental and natural resources, Tourism and conservation, Transportation, Utilities and public facilities).
i. Kigali City Master Plan and District Land Use Plan Cluster (DLUP): These plans are prepared by the NLA on behalf of Kigali City and district authorities and set out the development priorities for each district. The DLUP is an implementing tool of the NLUDMP in two manageable phases with the target of 2035, which is to be revised for 2050 targets. The DLUP optimize the land allocation for the entire district which is zoned with a specific use in details covers urban and rural areas to ensure that no land inside the district boundaries is left out of this plan. The District Land Use Plan aims to allocate land to different uses for the concerned district by clustering all thematic areas and allocate for urban and rural areas, as well as plans for infrastructure development, social services, and economic development. Kigali Master Plan and District Land Use Plans are implemented and enforced through Land use and Zoning Regulations.
ii. Sectoral Plans: These are plans prepared by specific sectors, such as Transportation, Agriculture, Forestry, Water and sanitation, and Tourism. They set out the development priorities for each sector and include specific land use plans for the relevant areas.
iii. Local Detailed Physical Plans: These are plans prepared and implemented through a participatory approach in line with Land Readjustment Guidelines by land owners, local authorities, investors, and other stakeholders, and set out the land use priorities for the local area. The land readjustment process requires land owner to commit parts of their land for public and shared infrastructure; Issued and published by the Director General of the NLA and Chief Registrar of Land Titles.
Check Regulations / Guidelines
4. Land use change and rezoning permit: Land use change is regulated by the Ministerial Order No 005/MoE/22 of 15/02/2022 determining modalities of change of land use (LINK to ORDERS/Ministerial). There are three modalities provided to change planned land use in the master plan can be changed: at individual level, a land owner can only request for land use change (1°) to comply with the requirements of the master plan of land use and development of the place where the land is located; or when (2°) the land owner has a project of strategic investment or public interests requiring changing land use as determined by master plan of land use and development or. Another way is (3°) the change can be done by NLA on its initiative to comply with the land use plan or rectify defects identified and in that case the NLA send a notification letter to the concerned land owners.
Before any land use change and rezoning can take place, the landowner must obtain a land use permit from the NLA. The permit specifies the type of new land use and zoning allowed to a specific land parcels as provided by the master plan.
For the case of the request aiming at complying with the land use master plan, the request is submitted to the Registrar of Land Titles office using the designed form 4. (a) Application Form for change of Land use
For the case of changing land use aiming at changing the planned zoning in the land use master plan, the request is submitted to NLA head office for assessments using the designated template letter or form 4. (b) Application Form for rezoning or changing of planned land use as determined by master plan of land use and development and shall comply with the following requirements:
i. An application letter indicating the existing activities on the land which is subject to request for change of land use and planned activities to be done: The application is initiated by the land owner and submitted to the NLA and shall use the following land administration forms:
ii. Applicant identification: The ID copy of the Applicant and/or the registration certificate if it is a company, society etc.
iii. Copy of the land title of the land for which the change of land use is requested or deed plan indicating the concerned land.
iv. A non-objection letter issued by the District where the land is located confirming that the intended land use change is relevant to the development of the District and does not interfere with the District land use plan implementation: This prove the district’s commitment and support to the applicant, acceptance of the investment or any initiative in socio-economic development. District should be guided on how to support the applicant and be given an orientation in Non-objection latter issuance process.
v. The project study for strategic investment or public interests approved by the organ in charge of activities underlined in that project: The organ should depend on the type of land use project: RDB for tourism and big economic development investment initiatives, MINICOM for industrial development and commercial activities, MINAGRI for agriculture projects, MININFRA/Agencies for infrastructure projects, MINEDUC in the case of education and research based projects; MINISANTE for health facilities based projects, RURA for public utilities projects, REMA for environmental protection based projects etc.
vi. The project EIA certificate is compulsory in the case on any big investment or any big socio-economic project: If the land use change has the potential to affect the environment (List of project requiring EIA according to relevant laws to be checked on REMA Website). The landowner must conduct an environmental impact assessment and obtain approval from RDB as the relevant authority.
5. Mapping and geospatial information management: This service involves creating and maintaining maps and geospatial databases that provide information on land use, infrastructure, and natural resources. All the spatial products in Rwanda are organized through the NSDI Hub.
The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) was envisioned as a way of enhancing the accessibility, communication, and use of geospatial data to support a wide variety of decisions at all levels of society in Rwanda.
The goals of the NSDI Hub are to reduce redundancy in geospatial data creation and maintenance, thus increase resource efficiency, standardization and informed decision making. This NSDI hub was launched in November 2021 as a national open platform to host and publish geospatial data and information relevant to sectoral planning and implementation.
The hub contains mainly harmonized and standardized fundamental geospatial datasets from different institutions. It also hosts the Land-Use and development Master plans at National and Kigali City/District levels as well as the recent Topographic and thematic maps and geo-stories. Rwanda Spatial Data Infrastructure is a result of partnerships with public and private institutions involved in geo-data production and use and it was developed and managed by Rwandan National Land Authority.
6. Cadastral surveying: This service involves surveying and mapping land boundaries, which is important for land registration and for resolving land.
The Rwanda Geodetic Network (RGN): The Rwanda Geodetic Network (RGN), is a network of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) that provide Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data consisting of carrier phase and code range measurements in support of three-dimensional positioning, meteorology, space weather and geophysical applications throughout Rwanda, its neighboring countries.
Surveyors, GIS users, engineers, scientists, and the public at large that collect GNSS data can use GNSS CORS data to improve the precision of their positions. CORS enhanced post-processed coordinates approach a few centimeters relative to the National Spatial Reference System, both horizontally and vertically.
The CORS network is a multi-purpose cooperative endeavor involving government, academic, and private organizations. The sites are independently owned and operated. Each agency shares their data with RGN, and RGN in turn analyzes and distributes the data free of charge.
Currently, we have 10 CORS sites in Rwanda. You can find them online through this link: corsmap.com/location/rwanda