From writing explanatory materials about white storks, to sending formal messages to district administrations asking them not to cut down trees on which they perch, 76-year-old Laurent Bizirema Ndatana is a key activist for the protection of the species. “They are very good birds. They have some cultures similar to those of humans – they are calm and social,” he tells me during an interview. ALSO READ: Why Rwanda is a bird sanctuary The white stork is a large bird in the stork family. It is mainly white with black wings. It is a culture following birds that actively seeks the proximity of humans, and thus lives in places like rooftops, trees along busy streets, electricity pylons and so on. In Rwanda, one of the easiest places to locate them is the busy road in front of Sulfo industry in the Central Business District (CBD), though they can be found in a couple more areas including Kigali and Bugesera. Ndatana points out that they are historic in Rwanda, having been in the country since at least the 1400s, according to historic records. “They are known here from 1465 during the reign of King Yuhi Gahima, according to history. But they might have come even earlier. King Gahima named them “Amatanangabo” after a group of his own body guards who went by the same name,” he narrates. ALSO READ: Rwanda’s birds: Finding the energy to fly The white storks are long-distance migrants, wintering in Africa – from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, to as far as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. Though rated among least-concern species that do not require specific conservation measures because they are still plentiful in the wild, Ndatana says that through the years, the birds have suffered loss of habitat in Rwanda due to human activity. “Around the 1970s when I came to Kigali, they were living at Giticyinyoni but later they left when the trees were cut for road construction. From there, they came to Muhima but due to road construction, they once again left. Now they are at Sulfo (in the CBD),” he recounts. He says he is fascinated by how they love to be in busy areas, not forests. “I wonder why. Maybe they just love people,” he wonders. “What I am doing currently is to try and conserve these birds, do research about them, and do advocacy about them so that they can get peace,” he says. ALSO READ: Tourism revenue up by 56 per cent in first half of 2023 Ndatana started doing the work of trying to promote the birds’ conservation in 2018. Since then, he has interacted with various entities for intervention, but now might be close to a breakthrough as Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) has started to engage with him. If all goes well, working with relevant institutions, tourism of such birds can be promoted, in addition new research can be done on them, their population, habitat, and so on.
