While inaugurating the Nyabitsinde School in Kinigi, the Director General Rosette Rugamba said, “By celebrating Kwita Izina, we are celebrating incredible successes in the conservation of the mountain gorilla and the continued partnership with the community that plays host to the gorillas.”

She clarified that, in the spirit of fundraising at Kwita Izina ceremonies and Revenue sharing, ORTPN and partners have been able to design and implement strategies that would manage the delicate balance between conservation of biological diversity and human development needs.

She added that over the past 3 years ORTPN has allocated over 410 million Rwanda francs raised through the revenue sharing scheme has been allocated to community projects. During the fundraising ceremonies held in 2005 and 2007an estimate of US $2.4m, and US $158,000 was collected respectively. Through such initiatives, communities adjacent to the Volcanoes National park now have access to clean drinking water harvested from the rain, the children that used to go to school under the trees now sit in classrooms protected from the unpredictable weather. The hotels and lodges have brought in much needed jobs and skills that have empowered local people and thus supporting their families. The women and men in the community have built small businesses selling their crafts to the tourists who come here every day.

She outlined the projects completed as;
1. Construction of 11 primary schools, three of which were inaugurated
2. Construct the high end Sabinyo Silverback community lodge which is fully owned by the local community and managed by governors camp
3. Construction of 12 water tanks
4. 7 bridges
5. Construction of 3 health centers and maternity facility
6. In a contribution to the fight against poverty we have Supported 10 small scale cottage industries with capital injection to develop business like
a. Bee keeping
b. 2 Handicrafts/artisans houses
c. Mushroom growers
7. Construct a 74Km Buffalo wall in Kinigi to reduce wildlife movement outside the park
8. Build an animal boundary trench in Akagera
9. Plant over 70,000 tree seedlings

Despite the success, she revealed that there were hurdles like the continued struggle to find an end to human and wildlife conflict that has resulted in destruction of food crops and domestic animals by the wildlife. She promised that ORTPN is tirelessly working to find solutions. She thanked everyone who has contributed to this and to the administration of Northern Province and the local community who have supported ORTPN in their work.

Notes to editors