Rwanda celebrates Mountain Gorillas through naming ceremony
Kigali – Rwanda will celebrate the birth of baby gorillas through “Kwita Izina”, the annual naming ceremony in Kinigi, Musanze on the 22 June 2013
This was announced today by Rica Rwigamba, head of Tourism and Conservation at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
This year’s theme is “Celebrating Nature, Empowering Communities.” “This is the 9th edition of Kwita Izina. On this occasion, we are going to name 12 baby gorillas and 1 family. This is a celebration of these wonderful animals but also a way to thank all those who take care of them, starting from rangers, vets and the community living near their habitat,” she said.
Through the tourism revenue sharing scheme, RDB funds various community projects throughout the country.
This year, Maize Grinding Plant, amaize production cooperative near Nyungwe National Park will be launched. This women’s cooperative used to cut trees from the park to curve mortars for maize crushing.
Today, with the support of RDB, they have a modern grinding machine that has increased their production. They now supply maize flour throughout their area.
While unveiling this year’s Kwita Izina program, Rica Rwigamba said that this will be more than just one event but a series of events which will include community celebrations, launch of community projects as well as the Kwita Izina Caravan. This tour will go from Kigali to Kinigi passing by the different touristic attractions and community projects on that route.
All these activities are open to the public and more details can be available on the Kwita Izina websitewwww.kwitizina.org and on various social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
"Professor Geoffrey Lipman President of ICTP said "We are honoured to support this unique initiative from our friends in Rwanda. It is one of the most thoughtful engagements of a local community in conservation and tourism on the planet and the essence of a green growth strategy.
The CEO of the Rwanda Development Board will make the announcement of the Gorilla naming competition in partnership with ICTP. The Rwanda Development Board is a Council member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP)
