Kwita Izina 2018 highlights Rwanda’s mountain gorilla conservation gains

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has revealed the Kwita Izina activity roadmap for 2018. The theme of these year's event is ‘Conservation is Life’ ceremony is going to take place its tradidional place in Kinigi at the foothill of volcanoes, Northern Province on 7th September 2018.

Kwita Izina, a uniquely Rwandan event, was introduced in 2005 with the aim of creating awareness of conservation efforts for the endangered mountain gorilla. 23 infant mountain gorillas are going to be named during this year's ceremony.

According Virunga Community Programs, this year's event is another proof of significant efforts Rwanda government is doing towards preservation of these endagered species. 

"We also salute all the efforts the Rwanda government is doing, including supporting the local community and extension of the park to preserve these animals," Virunga Community Programs observes.

According to statement from RDB community projects in Kitabi Sector, Nyamagabe District and Ndego Sector, Kayonza District will be launched on 27, July and 5, September respectively. In Kitabi Sector RDB has constructed ten houses for area residents who had formerly lived in the Nyungwe National Park buffer-zone. In Ndego Sector, residents of Karambi and Sangano villages will receive a mobile clinic, solar lighting systems and solar water pumps.

These community projects are part of the RDB Revenue Share Programme. This programme, initiated in 2005 by the Government of Rwanda, aims to guide investment in the areas surrounding the various national parks in Rwanda by ensuring that ten percent of all park revenues.

 Over $USD 1.28 million has been distributed by the Rwanda Development Board to more than 158 community-based projects. These projects have availed clean drinking water, health centers, classrooms and housing to members of the communities living around the three national parks; Akagera National Park, Nyungwe National Park and Volcanoes National Park.

On the 4th and 5th September 2018, the ‘Conversation on Conservation’ (CoC) forum will take place alongside an exhibition focused on conservation trends and practices.

The Conservation Exhibition will bring together tourism and conservation partners from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania to showcase conservation efforts and avail educational materials to the general public.

The CoC will bring together global conservation leaders, providing a unique platform linking conservation with sustainable tourism by embracing all layers of the value chain.

As a result of conservation efforts such as Kwita Izina, the population of the endangered mountain gorilla has increased to 604 in 2016 in the Virunga Massif compared to 480 in 2010. The Virunga Massif is comprised Mikeno Sector of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. Mountain gorilla numbers in the entire area had fallen as low as 242 in 1981.

Speaking to the gathered media, the RDB Chief Tourism Officer, Belise Kariza, said;

“The increasing number of mountain gorilla in the Volcanoes National Park is proof of the strides that we have made in gorilla conservation. This could have not happened without the support and collaboration of our conservation partners as well as the cooperation of the members of the community surrounding the park.

Initiatives such as the ‘Kwita Izina’ gorilla naming ceremony, transboundary cooperation and local community education and engagement have all played a major role in conserving gorillas.

Through the contribution of tourism and tourism revenues, we have not only been able to invest in the gorilla experience for our visitors we have also been able increase the amount of support we have given to the local communities through the revenue sharing programme”, she added.

The increase in the mountain gorilla population led the Government of Rwanda to institute a preliminary study on the possibility of expanding the Volcanoes National Park to ensure adequate habitat for the mountain gorilla.  Today the park is 16,027.8 hectares.

 “The plan is a major step in the consolidation of Rwanda’s conservation gains for the benefit of communities today and future generations. Through gorilla conservation and tourism, we are directly benefitting from these wonderful species.  Over the last nine years, revenues from mountain gorilla conservation and the resulting tourism has brought $ USD 107 million to the national coffers”, Kariza noted.

“Earlier this year RDB received a 27-hectare land donation from the African Wildlife Foundation, adding to the 160,000 hectares that had formerly comprised the park. This park expansion will ensure not only the adequate habitat of the endangered mountain gorilla but it will also improve both socio-economic opportunities for more than 18,000 people and the tourism experience in Volcanoes National Park.” Chief Tourism Officer Kariza concluded.

I want to promote Virunga through cycling, says Argentinean Venturini

When Lionel Venturini saw a documentary in Netflix about the Virunga National Park rangers, and the daily problem they face when on duty, he said he had to do something. He had also been reading about Virunga Community Programs and how it’s helping change perceptions in terms of tourism, conservation and community development in the Virunga massif.

Born in 29th June 1984 in Rosario, Argentina, a densely populated city 300km from Buenos Aries, Venturini says he spent most of his childhood in Mar del Plata.

He has worked as a lifeguard since 2016 and in 2017 he says he had the opportunity to further develop his skill as a lifeguard in Madrid, Spain.

Ventirini came back to Mar del Plata after the stint in Madrid and received a diploma as a professional medium deep-river diver. However, he was not to stay in Argentina for so long. “The local social crisis forced me to return to Spain to work as life guard and again this time to work and study and settle down for couple of years,” he says.

He adds that several months before seeing the Virunga documentary he had considered tavelling back to Madrid by motorcycle since travel costs were high. But after seeing the documentary he decided to travel by a bicycle and help promote Virunga National Parks and Virunga Community Programs along the way.

He says he was motivated to do this after watching the documentary and the wide contrast between selfish humans and those of rangers doing their best to protect the Virunga National Park and organizations like the Virunga Community Programs have initiated programs to promote conservation and community development in the Virunga massif.

The Virunga National Park has recently been hit by security problems that forced the authorities to close it for tourism activities till next year.

However, Virunga Community Programs believe it’s selfless actions like the one undertaken by Venturini that will help to expose such problems and the world is going to look for solutions how we can save Virunga in the long run.

“The documentary completely moved me. It even gave the idea to make t-shirts and flyers with the Virunga programs icon in order to promote it to the people I met along the journey and ask for donations as well,” he says.

He says he has invested money and effort because he is absolutely sure it’s worth it. He says he would also ask readers to suggest to him more ideas to collect money for this noble cause.

He says that because he will start working on June 2019, and since he has enough time to travel until the date, he is planning to support both Virunga National Parks and Virunga Community Programs by cycling from Madrid to Salamanca, and back to Madrid on 1 October 2018.

The journey will cover 4000 kilometers and he says it’s going to take approximately five months. Afterwards, he intends to travel by bike towards a euro flight zone route.

“Furthermore I would do the same in Italy in 2019 in France in 2020; in Germany in 2021 and so on .I would like to share the Virunga message around the world and at different school and institutions”. He adds that he hopes the journey will also help him learn English so that he can be able to communicate with everybody.

 “Since first saw the documentary I just visualized myself there taking pictures, meeting the locals and learning about their activities in order to tell what they do  while travelling,” he adds.

He says despite not having enough money at present he would one day wish to visit the parks and this would prepare him better to spread the Virunga message.

“Virunga Community Programs would like to take this opportunity to thank Venturini and we wish him well in his adventure. We hope that his mission that he spontaneously embarked on after seeing what is happening in the Virungas is going to open the eye of the world. We would also wish like-minded people like Venturini to come up and support conservation efforts not only in the Virungas but everywhere there’s a challenge.”

The onus to protect our environment should be a responsibility of everyone, and we believe that we should leave this world a better place we found it. This includes taking conscientious efforts to make it happen. Venturini is doing it. You also can do it, too.

The future of wildlife and habitat that they depend on is being destroyed

Virunga Programs· 

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#5-11/11/2018

#MgahingaNP
The future of wildlife and habitat that they depend on is being destroyed. Its time to make nature and all the beauty living within it our priority through sustainable tourism. Extinction of any specie means for ever!!!
Dear friends, please join us for an International Conservation Conference from 5-11/10/2018. We will be discussing problems facing wildlife in Democratic Republic of Congo and the Virunga Massif at large especially the proposed OIL DRILLING in Gorilla habitat.
Venue will be the beautiful Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda.
Your participation, contributions or donations towards this good cause are welcome.
Remember, we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors but borrow it from our children!!!!
Email us: virungaprograms@gmail.com for more details about the conference.