Rwanda conservation news live from Kigali – Kwita Izina conservation conference kicks off today

ANNUAL CONSERVATION CONFERENCE KICKS OFF IN KIGALI TODAY

The main theme of presentations, contributions and discussions during today’s annual Kwita Izina conservation conference, held at the Kigali Serena Conference Centre, will focus on the UN’s Year of the Forests and is themed: Forest Stewardship by Community – Contributions, Benefits and Prospects, offering the Rwanda Development Board an opportunity to yet further disseminate information to Rwandans about the importance of conservation in the development of the people and for the communities living near forests and national parks. Internationally recognized experts are expected to deliver papers for discussion amongst the several hundred expected participants to find viable solutions and talk about projected benefits of forest conservation for future generations of Rwandans.

The Rwanda government has in fact embarked in the recent past on an ambitious programme of re-forestation linking the remaining patches of a once great uninterrupted rainforest from the Nyungwe area near the border to Burundi to Lake Kivu, ancient forests which are then extending from the other side of the lake into the vast rainforests and jungles of the Congo. This groundbreaking initiative, unique in East Africa and in fact the entire continent may serve other countries as a guide of how to go about forest protection, sustainable use of forest resources by neighbouring communities and the restoration of forest cover when it has been encroached in the past or subjected to illegal logging.

A related article by this correspondent is also published in Rwanda’s leading hospitality, tourism and entertainment guide ‘The Eye Rwanda’ under this link: http://www.theeye.co.rw/conservation.php while a second article in the previous edition talking about Rwanda turning their forests into tourism assets can be found via: http://www.theeye.co.rw/forest_tourism.php