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· 

#InternationalConservationConference
#SaveWildlifeDRC
#SaveVirunga #Salonga
#SaveGorillaHabitat
#YourViewsMatter
#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.

HELP US SAVE GORILLAS AND STOP OIL DRILLING IN VIRUNGA & SALONGA NATIONAL PARK. LET’S GIVE ASMILE TO THE GORILLAS.

Threats to DRC wildlife to be discussed in Mgahinga International conference

A three day international conservation conference to discuss problems facing the wildlife in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is scheduled on 05 till 11 November in Mgahinga National Park, Uganda.

The conference, organized by the Virunga Community Programs, is going to discuss a wide range of issues that have threatened the wildlife in the country, including bush meat hunting and encroachment of the the country's two national parks; Salonga National Parks and Virunga

National Parks after it was leaked the DRC government has allowed drilling of oil to take place in the parks. Other issues to be discussed will be continuing international timber trade and illegal logging that is threatening to lead to deforestation.

Virunga Community Programs Would like to invite worldwide

v conservationists,

v scientists,

v government institutions,

v park wardens

v and conservation stakeholders

to brainstorm and seek solutions on a host of problems affecting the wildlife not only in DRC in particular but the whole Virunga massif in general.

The DRC government said in June that it had decided to open up parts of Virunga and Salonga National Parks, home to mountain gorillas, bonobos and other rare species to oil drilling.

The other key themes to be tackled during the conference include wildlife crime and law, wildlife trade in the Great Lakes region, wildlife law enforcement, cultural and traditional knowledge of environment conservation skills, wildlife sustainability and wildlife-human conflict.

According to Reuters, earlier proposals to allow oil exploration in the parks met fierce resistance from environmental activists, who say drilling would place wildlife at risk and release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing global warming.

Hunting of bushmeat, logging and international timber trade are also among main issues that threaten wildlife existence in the DRC and are going to be discussed during the conference.

Virunga Community Programs invites all conservation stakeholders, experts and individuals from all over the world who would wish to sponsor and/or participate in the conference to contact us via

 email :  virungaprograms@gmail.com.

Let us all celebrate the Day of Rangers

Mark it on your calendar. July 31, 2018 is World Ranger Day. This is a day that commemorates rangers killed or injured in the line of duty. It is also a significant day which celebrates crucial work rangers do to protect our natural heritage and cultural treasures.

Park rangers around the world are always in the frontline to protect our natural heritage. They do this despite dangers they face. Therefore, World Ranger Day provides a chance to support their critical work ranging from environmental campaigning and protection to education.

It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 parks, reserves and protected areas around the world. First held in 2007, World Ranger Day is organized by the International Ranger Federation (IRF).

When you see a gorilla in the Virunga massif, an elephant in a Kenyan national park, or a tiger in the forests of India, you have a ranger to thank. They live-and they also sometimes die-to protect nature. That’s their calling.

According to the Thin Green Line Foundation, 1,000 rangers were killed in the line of duty in the last 10 years. That is about two rangers a week, each week for the past decade.

Governments often lack enough resources to adequately train and equip rangers. These men and women earn very little and some even go for several months without receiving their hard-earned salaries. They will even go for months without seeing their families.

According to an article appearing in the National Geographic, the director of Virunga National Park Emmanuel DE Merode during an interview was reported as saying that in recent years the militia have been supplementing income by attacking vehicles that go through the park. He added that there have been a big number of civilian casualties because of the attacks.  

“When people go through the park, it’s the park’s responsibility to make sure the people are safe, so that’s added to the responsibilities of Virunga’s rangers. They have to protect them, and that’s been incredibly difficult but also very successful,” he said, confirming that In 2015 there were a large number of attacks that resulted in 124 killings, serious injuries, or abductions of civilians. By 2016 that had diminished to 79, and in 2017 that was reduced to 24.

Merode said there’s been very significant investment to increase the number of rangers in the Virunga National Park, but even more importantly to give them high-level training to be able to do that work. The number of rangers, he said, has increased from 230 in 2011 to 731 today.

“Also what’s quite telling is that the average age of rangers has decreased from 49 to 29. That’s because we recruit them younger,” he added.

Virunga Community Programs believe that for rangers to successfully do their work, they must first be better equipped and well trained. They require support beyond backpacks and boots. They must be supported and respected by all, including their governments, and national anti-poaching laws must be enforced.

We would also like thank all support from different organizations to recognize the efforts used by ranger in protecting our environment and natural heritage. We hope the lives of rangers are going to be better as we all understand the hard work they do every day. We wish all of you a good World Ranger Day

Sustainable solutions to environmental problems affecting Great Lakes Region

By Virunga programs

The Great Lakes region of Africa consists of five basins: Lake Tanganyika basin, Lake Victoria basin, Upper Nile basin, Lake Malawi basin and Lake Turkana basin. It straddles 11 countries of Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

However, while the region is famous for its diverse wildlife, majority of people have only seen it through television, with mostly TV programs from Discovery Channel bringing to the sitting rooms around the world its rich wildlife and plant species.

With creation of programs like conservation tourism, individual from all over the world are flocking to the region to see amazing wildlife in its natural habitat. Consequently, wildlife is driving business and contributing to a brighter future to communities living in the region.

But several communities regard the same wildlife as a threat to their existence, since animals tend to wander beyond park boundaries and raid crops that the locals would normally eat or sell.

This has led to wildlife-human conflict that continue to threaten the life of many species, some of them now registered as highly endangered, like the elephants.

Still, there are others who hunt the wildlife in order to protect their land. Other people also poach and take part in wildlife trafficking to earn their income. Making these communities realize the significance of wildlife conservation remains among the biggest challenges in the region.

Granted, many families are poor. They rely heavily on natural resources in order to derive their livelihoods from the natural ecosystems. These activities lead to increasing pressure via overuse of natural resources, like overfishing and poaching, which gives rise to progressive degradation of the affected ecosystems and loss of habitat for several species they host.

Despite their importance and significance, several rivers, lakes, forests and wetlands in the Great Lakes region are severely being degraded by human activities. They are declining at a much faster rate when compared to terrestrial ecosystems. Given the big numbers of vulnerable families together with high level of threats to the Great Lakes region ecosystem, the region is taken as a conservation hotspot by several stakeholders. Increased efforts now are being directed towards understanding the important drivers of change plus ways to address threats that affect the region’s ecosystem.  

According to an article written in the WATTERPEBBLE titled, “Water Pollution In Africa: Reasons, Effects, Statistics” by Elvis M. Ives, one of the biggest problems facing Africa right now is lack of access to clean water that’s safe for drinking/cooking. This comes from the fact that most of the continent’s waters are getting contaminated by various human activities- like mining, urbanization, deforestation, industrial dumping, poor sanitation, agriculture, and even politics.

The Virunga Community Programs identify major problems affecting the region as drilling of oil and gas in Lake Kivu and areas close to the national parks, logging, and illegal mining, particularly in the DRC, river pollution as a result of human activities, killing of animals and destroying their habitat and among others.

Some of these activities lead to devastating consequences like global warming, desertification, and disease.

Virunga Community Programs is an organization based in the eastern DRC that think for these challenges to be overcome, all tourism, conservation and community development stakeholders should work together to develop collaborative actions that seek to address all problems afflicting the ecosystem in this region.

We seek to conduct activities that promote sustainable community development, protection of the wildlife’s natural habitat, conservation of the Virunga massif, promotion of modern farming techniques, community ecotourism, education of the young people about importance of conservation, job creation, poverty alleviation, advocacy and research to achieve integrated conservation, community development and responsible tourism in the region.

Virunga Community Programs also supports initiatives that allow various stakeholders to track the development and progress towards achievements of several conservation targets which have been established, and allow policy makers together with the general public receive accurate, well-researched and structured information on the status of the habitats, endangered species like the mountain gorillas in the Virunga massif and ecosystem services in the region.

How Dian Fossey led to mountain gorilla population growth

By Virunga Community Programs

Many articles have been written about Dian Fossey. Many films have been produced about this wonderful woman who loved the mountain gorillas. There are countless stories that have been told about her. Even her death still remains a mystery up to date.

But thanks to Dian Fossey, the selfless woman who lived alone with the mountain gorillas in the forests, her favorite one called Digit, killed by poachers,and  now resting besides her between Karisimbi and Bisoke, the mountain gorillas can now have a smile on their faces due to her efforts to save them.

Why do we say so?

 According to the latest census, the mountain gorilla population has for the first time surpassed the 1000 mark since official records began. The survey showed that there are 604 mountain gorillas in the Virunga massif, and most of them are in Rwanda. 400 are found in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. Combined, this takes the total to 1,004.

According to Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, she was born on January 16, 1932, in San Francisco, California. While working as an occupational therapist, Fossey became interested in primates during a trip to Africa in 1963. She studied the endangered gorillas of the Rwandan mountain forest for two decades before her unsolved murder occurred in 1985, at Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Fossey told her story in the book Gorillas in the Mist (1983), which was later adapted for a film starring Sigourney Weaver.

But despite her efforts, on the early morning of December 27, 1985 (only two days after Christmas), she was found brutally murdered in the bedroom of her cabin she was staying at Karisoke Camp at that time.

According to official statistics, between 1959 and 1960, there were 400 to 500 gorillas. Between 1971 and 1973, there were 260 and 290 gorillas. The popolation decreased between 1976 and 1978 where there were 252 and 285 gorillas. The population further decreased according to 1981 to around 242 and 266 gorillas. This was mostly due rampant poaching experienced during that period.

However, acccording 1986, there was a significant population growth of the gorillas, where between 252 and 285 individuals were recorded. The growth continued according to 1989 census where 324 gorillas were counted.

The 2003 Census for gorillas recorded 380 gorillas, representing a 17% growth  increase since 1989. This represented a 1.15 % annual growth.

The mountain gorillas continued to smile later on, since according to 2010 Census, there were 480 counted mountain gorillas.

Dian Fossey didn't just die with a whimper. She died with a bang. After her death, great awareness about the gorillas are now known all over the world. 

According to Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, today, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund operates the Karisoke Research Center and is a leader in saving critically endangered gorillas in Africa, with 160 field staff engaged in daily gorilla protection, scientific study, educational initiatives, and support to improve lives of local human communities.

“If it were not for Dian Fossey, mountain gorillas would likely be extinct today. She was their greatest champion, and started what is now the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to pay for anti-poaching patrols at a time when the gorillas were being decimated by poachers,” says Dr. Tara Stoinski, who leads the Fossey Fund today as president and CEO/chief scientific officer.

On 7th September 2018, Rwanda is going to celebrate a unique gorilla baby naming ceremony called Kwita Izina. This is a special event in the country's calendar where 23 baby gorillas are going to be given names this year.

 This couldn't have happened without the efforts of Dian Fossey who raised worldwide awareness about the primates. Therefore, this day should also pay tribute to her efforts to save these once endangered species. It's also a celebration of Rwanda's continued efforts to save them through different programs like community revenue sharing programs, where 10 percent of money accrued from tourism goes back to the community through building of schools, health centers and roads so that local community surrounding the parks do not involve themselves in poaching

Virunga Community Programs also takes time to salute this great woman through which her efforts has led to creating awareneness about mountain gorilla conservation. We also would thank different organisations worldwide who have made these endagered species survive, and the the governments of Rwandam DRC and Uganda through their conservation programs.

Chinese tourists visit Dian Fossey Tomb

Chinese tourists visit Dian Fossey Tomb

Recently a group of Chinese tourists visited Dian Fossey graveyard in Karisoke Research Center, Musanze district. This comes in the backdrop of Rwanda and Chinese governments joint efforts to attract more Chinese tourists to Rwanda.

Even though golden monkey and mountain gorilla trekking are the focus for majority of travelers to the Volcanoes National Park, a hike to the graveyard of the American Primatologist Dian Fossey, who sacrificed her life to save the gorillas, has become among the most significant attractions in Rwanda.

Furthermore, the Chinese visit to the graveyard also came hot on the heels of the director of Guangzhou tourism municipality Liu Yumei pledging to work together with Rwandan officials to promote tourism which would see more Chinese tourists visiting Rwanda. He made the remarks during the closure of a three-day Guangzhou international travel fair 2018.

In June 2018 a Chinese businessman, who has been operating in Rwanda for the past eight years, launched a travel agency, HuaLu Hills International Travel Co Ltd”, which he believes is going to bring thousands of Chinese tourists to Rwanda.

According to press reports, Duan XinJian, popularly known for building elevators and running a massage and sauna parlor, organized a tourism and cultural event last month called “Seeking the beauty of Rwanda”, in collaboration with “HuaLu Hills International Travel Co Ltd”, and “Beijing Central Television Sailing Film and Television Co. Ltd” to promote Rwanda as a tourism destination for the Chinese market.

In April 2018, the Rwanda Development Board showcased the country’s travel and tourism attractions at this year’s China’s Outbound Travel and Tourism Market. China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market is a leading travel trade show in the Asian nation.

In as much as gorilla and golden monkey trekking remain a major focus for most travelers to Volcanoes national park, a hike to the graveyard of Dian Fossey, an American primatologist who sacrificed her life to save the mountain gorillas is worth doing.

The graveyard hike has become an exciting learning experience for travellers through providing them in-depth understanding of the beginning of gorilla tourism in the Virunga massif and how Dian Fossey sacrificed her own life to save the mountain gorillas which were on the verge of extinction.

Dian Fossey funded several projects to protect the primates, hired patrols to arrest poachers and gorilla doctors to treat injured gorillas in poaching. Her efforts drastically reduced poaching in the Volcanoes National Parks.

Dian Fossey graveyard symbolizes conservationist heroism, myatery and beauty all rolled in one. It was here that she was based during her 18 years of studying the endangered mountain gorillas in the wild. Also, it was here that she was murdered in 1985, under mysterious circumstances, in her cabin, and where she was subsequently buried – next to her favourite gorilla Digit. This place is now   serves as some type of a remote pilgrimage site. It is reached on a strenuous but extremely scenic hike.  

According to source from the center, Digit was buried, alongside other dead gorillas, near Fossey's Karisoke research station. Nobody knew back then that Fossey herself would join him there a few years later …

 A visit to her graveyard and the Karisoke Research center in Musanze is an appreciation of her heroism, great love for the gorillas, and the tragedy of her death that marked the starting point of gorilla tourism in Rwanda and the Virungas.

China and Rwanda have been enjoying good bilaterial business relationship among businessmen from both countries through import and export of goods between the two countries.