Rwanda to name rare gorillas on World Environment day

By Philip Mwakio

Rwanda will host this year’s World Environment Day (WED) on June 5 alongside the traditional Kwita Izina (Gorilla naming ceremony).

A statement from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said Rwanda was privileged to host the two events this year.

This years Kwita Izina, which is the 6th edition, will see the naming of 11 mountain baby gorillas at the foot of the Volcanoes de Virunga mountains, Kinigi,Mutsanze in the Northen Province.

The gorilla naming ceremony is solely aimed at raising awareness for the conservation of the endangered mountain gorillas.

"Rwanda has been selected by the United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) as host country for the day at global level and since gorilla naming ceremony has been taking place in June, it was found very convenient to hold the two events at the same time,’’ Anette Tamara Mbabazi, RDB media and events officer said.

She added that this year’s theme Many Species, One Planet, one future, emphasizes the importance to humanity of the world’s wealth of species and ecosystems.

Mbabazi said that as celebration for the international year of biodiversity, focus will be on public awareness raising of the importance of biodiversity and its protection from underlying threats as well as the significance of establishing interconnections between biodiversity, conservation and climate change.

She, further, said that the celebrations of the Kwita Izina will be preceded by week long activities towards environmental protection and biodiversity conservation awareness like community works known as ‘Umuganda’ among others.