Kwita Izina – Gorilla Naming Ceremony

The positive news concerning conservation achievement is becoming more uncommon these days. That’s why, when it was recently revealed that the number of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains had grown, many environmentalists must have popped the cork to celebrate.

Nonetheless, African wildlife is still under danger. And, as conservationists, we must consider what steps should be done to conserve our natural environment.

Kwita Izina in Volcanoes National Park – Rwanda

At Volcanoes National Park Rwanda, we believe that in order to rescue endangered animals such as mountain gorillas, we must collaborate with the people who live beside them. For the little time we have dealt with them via our activities, we have formed a set of principles that we think will pave the way for a fruitful collaboration.

This generation is now seeing and, in some ways, contributing to the extinction of species.

Those of us working to preserve biodiversity feel compelled to act quickly. Driven by this zealous objective, certain environmentalists advocate for the construction of fences, the passage of stricter regulations, and the arming of park guards. However, animal extinction and forest depletion continue unabated.

Imposing laws, research, or policies on communities without considering their well-being has seldom been productive, much alone ethical or suitable. In our hasty efforts to turn the tide and protect these endangered species and their habitats, we have sometimes neglected to consider how these interventions may affect the people who share these habitats–mostly economically vulnerable rural communities that rely on these very ecosystems.

While the government of Rwanda, for example, has managed to include the local population in conservation via a revenue sharing scheme, this has been unusual in other regions of the continent.

Many nations, for example, pass laws prohibiting hunting, but do they consult the people what this means to them? Or how limits on the usage of protected area land might affect their incomes, lifestyles, and rituals? After successful mountain gorilla conservation, we must now celebrate newborn gorillas born each year and raise awareness around the globe by naming them KWITA IZINA in Kinyarwanda.

Gorilla Naming – Kwita Izina

kwita izina – Gorilla naming

Rwanda holds this annual, week-long programme of events in September to raise awareness and finances for the country’s mountain gorillas’ continuous conservation and habitat extension. Kwita Izina is one of the world’s most recognised conservation and sustainable tourism conferences, including a conference, seminars, and the centrepiece – a naming ceremony for gorillas born in the country’s Volcanoes National Park in the last year or so. Invited visitors go to the big, silverback-shaped bamboo stage and name each gorilla carefully based on the baby’s behaviour and distinctive character qualities, which Rwandans think will inspire good fortune and play a significant part in moulding the kids’ destiny.

The festivities, which include traditional music, dancing, and performances by local students and artists, draw thousands of visitors each year, including conservationists, rangers, and communities, as well as international celebrities, dignitaries, and the country’s President, who attend the ceremony near Kinigi, at the foothills of the Virunga Massif.The yearly Kwita Izina ritual names the mountain gorillas born in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.

“Over the last two decades, one type of initiative in particular that has captured the imagination of conservationists has been based on the concept of incorporating the communities themselves into formal structures for regulating and managing wildlife and habitat,” writes John Murphy in an article titled “Does Community Involvement in Conservation Provide an Alternative to Fortress Conservation?” that appeared in an online journal ALERT.as is now taking place in Rwanda on gorilla conservation and the true meaning of Kwita izina

You, too, can contribute to animal conservation initiatives. Let us all work together to guarantee that our natural environment remains pure for current and future generations.