The Government of Rwanda is delighted to invite you to the celebration of the 7th annual Kwita Izina Event (7th Gorilla Naming ceremony) which will take place on 18th June 2011 in Kinigi, Musanze District, Northern Province.
Since its launch seven years ago, the event has been extremely successful hosting over 20.000 participants each year including international celebrities and distinguished members of the conservation and tourism communities. We were honored to have His Excellency the President of the Republic of Rwanda and the First Lady as our guests of honor during the previous ceremonies.
This year’s theme “Community development for sustained conservation” emphasizes the importance of conservation in the development of living around the national parks in general and particularly the Volcanoes National Park as well as the communities’ role in the sustainable conservation of biodiversity.
The celebration of Kwita Izina will be preceded by a week long activities towards community development, environment protection and biodiversity conservation awareness raising, ranging from Kwita Izina Cycling Tour, Conservation Conference, Launching of community projects and community party “Igitaramo” to the naming ceremony as indicated on the attached concept.
We hope very much that you will be able to join us and attend this prestigious and important event and preceding activities.
Yours sincerely,
John GARA
Chief Executive Officer, RDB
7th KWITA IZINA 2011 CONCEPT NOTE
Kwita Izina 2011 – “Community development for sustained conservation.”
In 2011, Kwita Izina is about consolidating gains made over the past seven years and ensuring continuity of growth in population of the gorillas and tourists as well as continued harmonious community–gorilla coexistence.
Notable achievement are 26% growth in the population of gorillas since the last census in 2003, steady growth of tourists with USD 200 million in revenues in 2010, and conversion of poachers into farmers. The safety and security of the park and its surrounding is also a notable national achievement without which little of this would have been achieved .
This year we seek to accrue the merits of conservation to the communities around our National Parks. We seek better livelihoods for our people achieved through the growth in tourism revenues. This would not be possible without the active protection of our mountain gorillas and conservation of their habitat. We have come a very long way but we have far to go. This year its “Community development for sustained conservation”
Kwita Izina Background
Kwita Izina (literally “Naming”) is a Rwandan traditional ceremony held to welcome a child both into his/her family and into the community. Neighbors, family and friends are gathered in a festive ceremony by the parents bring out the child and reveal what name they have chosen for the child.
For the gorillas in Rwanda, we the Rwandans are their custodians responsible for their well being, their protection and the conservation of their habitat. So every year we invite neighbors and friends of this nation, conservationists and animal enthusiasts to join us in naming new born gorillas and engage the communities around them to ensure these national treasures continue to grow and thrive in their nature-designated habitat .
Kwita Izina Rationale
Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda are an integral part of the Virunga ecosystem therefore 7years ago an initiative was developed that would recognize publicly and appreciate not only their rarity but also their unique family oriented existence and their contribution to the communities that surround them and the Rwandan Economy. This initiative is Kwita Izina
Today, we can proudly proclaim it a great success. Kwita Izina among others has contributed towards growth in the population of mountain gorillas. A census that was conducted in the Virunga Massif between March and April, 2010 showed a 26.3% increase of the mountain gorillas over the last seven years. It has also has led to a steady growth of in tourism revenues which in 2010 were USD 200m.
Kwita Izina is also a time to recognize the people that make these successes possible – the community and 180 employees of the Virunga National Park (VNP) working as guides, gorilla groups’ trackers, and anti-poaching teams deployed in 5 protection sectors of the park. In addition, an estimated 800 community members around VNP are involved in day to day VNP management activities.
Kwita Izina The Event
Kwita Izina 2011 like all its predecessors aims to be what great memories are made of. It will be a weeklong event culminating in a naming ceremony to be held in Kinigi, Northern Province. This year the event will include;
- · Kwita Izina National Cycling Tour (11-12th June),
- · Conservation Conference (15th June),
- · Launching Community Projects (16th June)
- · A Community Festival “Igitaramo” (17th June)
- · The Gorilla Naming Ceremony (18th June)
The ceremony has previously been graced by notable figures in the world of politics, business, film and arts as well as conservationists and animal enthusiasts. This year will be bigger and better, naming 22 baby gorillas born during the past year.
THE KWITA IZINA CONSERVATION CONFERENCE 2011
KIGALI, RWANDA, JUNE, WEDNESDAY 15, 2011
CONCEPT NOTE
Conference Theme: “Forest Stewardship by Communities: Contributions, Benefits and Future Prospects”
“Come Celebrate the International Year of the Forests 2011 and Kwita Izina in Rwanda”
INTRODUCTION
The 2011 Kwita Izina will be the 7th annual edition of the Gorilla Naming Ceremony; the first ceremony took place in 2005. From 2008, it has also become a tradition to hold an Annual Conservation Conference as part of key activities during the Kwita Izina Week building up to the main event.
Each Kwita Izina Ceremony has been planned and executed around a specific theme to help focus on contemporary issue that is considered crucial to conservation. Thus, the 2011 Kwita Izina Ceremony will be organized under the theme “Community development for sustained conservation.” The theme echoes the theme for the IYF 2011 set by the International Community
THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FORESTS 2011 – IYF
The International community, through the UN, has declared the year 2011 as the “International Year of Forests”. This is in recognition of the essential contributions the world’s forests make to life on earth in all its diversity, and to the attainment of humanity’s biggest goals such as poverty reduction, moderation climate change and achieving sustainable development.
The declaration of International Year of Forests is aimed at raising awareness of sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. Forests are home to about 80 per cent of the world’s species, including threatened species such as Mountain Gorillas. They are also home to 300 million people and provide livelihoods to 1.6 billion people – over a quarter of the human population.
CONSERVATION CONFERENCE 2011
The IYF will be celebrated under the theme “Celebrating Forests for People’. This year’s Conference will be organized around the same general theme.
The Conference will bring together key individuals from different institutions, in Government, Private Sector NGOs, donors and international agencies to exchange views and learn about programmes, challenges, and constraints of community participation in forest conservation. It will provide a forum for presentation, discussion and reflection
on different approaches, and practices in community participation and contribution to sustainable forest management and compare experiences and results from different countries and contexts.
These Rwanda’s “home-made events” under an international theme have helped to create showcase international events. Planning them under a recognized international theme also contributes to the strengthening their international linkages and appeal.
“Forest Stewardship by Communities: Contributions, Benefits and Future Prospects” is the theme selected for this year’s Conservation Conference.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS CONFERENCE?
The theme and goals of the IYF provide the context of this year’s Kwita Izina Conservation Conference. The conference will thus complements regional and international efforts of enhancing public awareness of the importance of conserving forests and the understanding of the underlying threats and causes of forest degradation and loss.
The Conference will provide a forum for dialogue between stakeholders for the steps to be taken in 2011 and beyond, in promoting innovative solutions to address the threats and reduce forest losses and in encouraging, promoting and supporting active community participation in these efforts.
While forest conservation will be the over-arching theme of the conference; it will make specific reference to the forests and the roles of the communities in Rwanda and the wider Albertine Rift Region. International, regional and national experts will review the experience and lessons learnt from the past community conservation practices, from around the world and draw upon them in formulating strategies for long-term conservation and sustainable use of the Region’s forest resources.
CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES:
In accordance with the objectives of the IYF 2011, the specific objectives of the conference are:
1) Identify strategies and priority actions to meet long-term forest conservation needs and how community contribution can be enhanced and institutionalized
2) Develop consensus on a common vision for future conservation of forests that maximizes the contributions and flow of benefits to local communities and other stakeholders
3) Propose and a analyze available opportunities for enhancing forest contribution to human needs, livelihood and environmental security through the generation and application of knowledge,
4) Discuss the principles of participatory planning and collaborative management and their application to the sustainable management of forests in Albertine Rift
EXPECTED OUTPUT
- Stakeholders and experts bring together diverse experience and knowledge, and provide key inputs for the development of appropriate approaches for the sustainable management of forests, with community participation
- Clearer understanding of threats and underlying causes of forest loss and a Vision of how they can best be addressed
- Set up process of regional co-operation as a vital tool of sharing experience and sharing lessons and in developing and implementing participatory forest conservation programmes
- Stakeholders review existing community conservation programmes, their contributions and lessons for future practices
- Proposals for increasing the flow of forest goods, services and other benefits through the promotion of private sector investment
- Definite proposals , resolutions, recommendation and inputs on how to enhance stakeholder participation, flow and equitable sharing of costs and benefits of sustainable forest management
- Deliberate on how we can begin to measure progress towards achieving genuine community participation in sustainable forest management
- A series of status reports, background papers on key issues, and published workshop proceedings, resolutions and recommendation, record and document the experiences, achievements and lessons from the workshop for future reference
CONFERENCE STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION
The Conference sessions will be designed to provide the best possible levels of participation and sharing of information relevant to conference theme. The conference will have an independent facilitator who will guide its conduct to ensure that timelines and objectives are fully met. It will be organized around plenary sessions, facilitated panel discussions that will address specific topics.
Conference papers and other contributions from the participants and relevant background materials will set the stage for subsequent debates, recommendations, resolutions action plan for the way forward.
Four Papers will be presented:
1) Paper 1: Keynote Address, by a renown Conservation Expert, providing a broad overview of forest conservation, governance and management and linking this to the IYF and the Conference themes
2) Paper 2: Evolution of the concept of community participation and collaborative management, global experience, challenges and future prospects. This paper will be more of an intellectual synthesis of the history, theoretical premise and practical application and experience
3) Paper 3: Community Conservation: Practice, experience and lessons from Eastern and Southern Africa
4) Paper 4: Generation and categorization of benefits from sustainable forest management; sharing the benefits with local communities and other stakeholders and impact of benefit sharing on conservation
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
The one – day conference will bring together 180 –200 senior experts and other stakeholders; participation will be on invitation only. Participants will be representatives of governmental agencies, scholars, researchers, and experts from the private sector, NGOs, community organizations, donors and international agencies, with experience or interests in sustainable forest management.
Murakaza Neza. Welcome. Bienvenue