2021 Kwita Izina to be held on World Gorilla Day
The Rwanda Development Board has announced the Kwita Izina Gorilla Naming Ceremony will take place on September 24, 2021, World Gorilla Day.
This is the 17th Kwita Izina ceremony. The topic for this ceremony will be “Conservation and Sustainable Tourism — A Foundation for Future Generations.”
The ceremoney will include a virtual naming ceremony for the 24 mountain gorillas that were born in Volcanoes National Park in the previous year. Since the first Kwita Izina in 2005, 328 newborn gorillas have been named.
Notable partners, environmentalists, international celebrities, dignitaries, and lovers of Rwanda will be among this year’s namers.
On 24 September Rwanda will join the rest of the globe in commemorating World Gorilla Day, which commemorates the founding of the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda by famed gorilla researcher Dian Fossey in 1967. It is a day that encourages people all over the world to celebrate mountain gorilla conservation. This day also honours individuals who preserve them on a daily basis in their natural habitat.
The virtual ceremony will include information on Rwanda’s conservation activities, such as mountain gorilla population growth and the need to expand their habitat. It will also include information on community support to improve community livelihoods while supporting animal conservation.