The annual Kwita Izina ceremony that is scheduled to take place on 5th Sept will mark the launch of Conservation awards that will recognise efforts by individuals who work tirelessly to preserve and conserve national parks. 

This year’s edition will be held under the theme, "Conserve for now and the future.”

According to the Acting Head of Tourism Department at Rwanda Development Board, Faustin Karasira, three individuals will be awarded for extraordinary efforts towards conserving, promoting and maintaining the tourism sector.

"We came up with this initiative because we thought it would be great to recognize individual efforts to conserve our parks. For example, there’s a time this year when an antelope escaped from the volcano park, but instead of being killed, people called us and park rangers went to get it,” he said.

That gesture showed RDB that people understand the importance of tourism and their efforts should be recognized. This year’s edition of Kwita Izina will attract 400 foreign guests while they expect 30,000 people at the main event.

"We already have 60 tour operators for a familiarisation tour in the country. They are from Europe, Russia, USA, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Zambia among other countries. Among the 400 guests, 200 will attend a high level discussion on conservation where we’ll learn from each other about conservation,” he added.

Karasira added that 80 media houses from Europe, Asia and Africa among others are also expected in the country in an effort to continue telling Rwanda’s story and selling it to the world. This also in line with government’s National Conservation Policy to confirm their commitment in promoting the tourism sector.

Karasira also said that they are ready to host the event and yesterday’s Umuganda activity was the first in a series of activities that will lead up to the main event.

"Starting on Tuesday, we shall host a wildlife exhibition at the Kigali Public Library that will run till September 6th . We shall also launch a community library in Bisate, Northern Province which was constructed in partnership with Karisoke Research Center with funds from the Revenue Sharing Funds,” he said.

Other activities include a high level discussion on conversation that will be held at Kigali Serena Hotel and will include a Business-to-Business meeting (B2B) between local tourism operators and their counterparts. There’ll be another exhibition in the Northern Province by banks, community shops and tour operators while on the eve of the main event, there’ll be a community concert (Igitaramo).

The private sector is also ready for the large number of guests that will attend the event. The Chairman of Rwanda Tours and travel Associations, Joseph Birori, said that the many challenges they encounter are being turned into opportunities they can exploit.

"When we meet a challenge that simply means that it’s an avenue of coming up with a solution which can be an advantage to the tourism sector and an income generating project,” he said.

One of the tour operators who will be attending this year’s edition of Kwita Izina, Julie Tucker from South Africa’s Wilderness Safaris, says that Rwanda’s journey is the most amazing experience that makes its tourism industry among the most sought after in Africa.

"Kwita Izina represents more than Gorillas. It represents a cultural experience and people who are willing to support the tourism sector. I wish the rest of the world can come and see how far Rwanda has come and learn from it,” she said.

This year marks 11 years since the inception of Kwita Izina where 24 baby gorillas will be named. The event comes at a time when RDB will be embarking on carrying out another general census of the gorilla population in the Virunga Massif following one that was carried out in 2010.