Celebrating (and working) at Kwita Izina 2014!

This year’s Kwita Izina Gorilla Naming ceremony took place in Rwanda just a few days ago, and the Gorilla Organization took part!

This year’s Kwita Izina Gorilla Naming ceremony took place in Rwanda just a few days ago, and the Gorilla Organization was there to join in the celebrations!

The annual event is a way of bringing communities and conservation professionals together to celebrate the latest additions to Rwanda’s mountain gorilla population. This year, an amazing 18 baby gorillas was officially named, with Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi the guest of honour. As well as the naming ceremony itself, there was singing, dancing and even stand-up comedy!

Some of the names given to the baby gorillas (all of them born in the past 12 months) include Inkindi, which in Rwanda is the name of very valuable cloth (but not as valuable as the gorillas are to the country right now), Masunzu and Ndengera.

Kwita Izina is about so much more than celebrating our friends of the forest. It’s status as one of the biggest events on the conservation calendar in this part of Africa means it’s a great opportunity to meet up with colleagues, share tips and success stories and make new partnerships.

That’s why we set up a special Gorilla Organization stand, from which we shared stories from our community conservation projects. As you can see from the pictures I took, we brought along some furry friends to show what can be achieved with a little imagination.

Colleagues from other NGOs, as well as government officials, were delighted to hear that, by helping communities raise rabbits, we are giving them an alternative source of protein to bushmeat found in the forests. This, of course, means many people will no longer have to illegally trespass in the National Parks and, more importantly, they won’t be tempted to lay down the snares that can trap and even kill our precious gorillas!

Gorilla Organization Chairman Ian Redmond also joined me in spreading news of our work, networking with his fellow conservationists and joining in the fun and games!

Here you can see some pictures from the great day! Here’s hoping that, this time next year, we’ll have even more new baby gorillas to be welcoming into the world!

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