KINIGI, Rwanda — September 4, 2026 — Rwanda is hosting the 21st Kwita Izina Gorilla Naming Ceremony on Friday in Kinigi, Musanze District, bringing together conservation advocates, international personalities, community representatives and visitors for one of the country’s most prominent celebrations of wildlife protection and sustainable tourism. The annual ceremony, held near Volcanoes National Park, draws on Rwanda’s centuries-old cultural tradition of naming newborn children in the presence of family and community, adapting that practice to celebrate newly born mountain gorillas.
The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) announced 22 distinguished namers for this year’s ceremony, representing conservation, tourism, business, philanthropy, sport, entertainment and public service. The 2026 celebration is being held under the theme “Conservation is Life: Sustaining the Future,” emphasizing Rwanda’s approach of linking biodiversity protection with tourism, community participation and long-term economic development.
Among those selected are Shaikha Al Nuwais, incoming Secretary-General of UN Tourism; Rwandan gospel artist Israel Mbonyi; former France and Manchester United footballer Patrice Evra; UCI President David Lappartient; Olympic high-jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim; former French international footballer Mamadou Sakho; filmmaker and producer Alastair Fothergill; Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo; and Volcanoes-region conservation figures. The group also includes business executives and philanthropists whose work spans tourism, infrastructure, health, environmental protection and community development.
One of the locally rooted participants is Jeanette Uwimbabazi, a Nyungwe National Park ranger recognized for her work protecting Rwanda’s biodiversity and combating wildlife crime. Her inclusion alongside internationally known figures reflects an important element of Kwita Izina: recognizing the rangers, conservation professionals and communities whose daily work contributes directly to protecting Rwanda’s natural heritage.
Kwita Izina has developed into an international platform for Rwanda to showcase the recovery of mountain gorillas and promote conservation as part of national development. According to official information released for this year’s event, more than 1,060 mountain gorillas now live in the wild across the Virunga Massif and Uganda’s Bwindi ecosystem. Rwanda says their progress reflects decades of cooperation among governments, researchers, veterinarians, conservation organizations, park rangers and communities.
The ceremony also highlights the economic relationship between conservation and communities living around Rwanda’s protected areas. Through the country’s Tourism Revenue Sharing Programme, 10 percent of national park tourism revenues are reinvested in surrounding communities. Official figures indicate that more than RWF 23 billion has so far supported nearly 1,300 projects, including schools, health facilities, water infrastructure and livelihood programs.
Rwanda has recently expanded that community-centered approach through the Smart Green Village in Kinigi, where the government broke ground in August on a development valued at more than US$49 million. The project is expected to provide 547 households with modern housing and essential services while supporting sustainable livelihoods. It forms part of the broader Volcanoes Community Resilience Project, connected to Rwanda’s long-term plans to expand Volcanoes National Park and strengthen the communities surrounding the protected ecosystem.
Rwanda’s government has consistently presented Kwita Izina as more than a ceremonial occasion. During an earlier edition, President Paul Kagame described conservation as a shared responsibility, while official government accounts have emphasized the ceremony’s roots in Rwanda’s traditional practice of naming children among family and friends. That cultural foundation has helped transform Kwita Izina into a recognizable national and international conservation event.
The 2026 celebration builds on more than two decades of organized gorilla naming ceremonies. Since Kwita Izina became an official annual event in 2005, hundreds of mountain gorillas have received names through the program. Beyond identifying individual gorillas, naming assists in creating public awareness around animals whose lives are closely followed by rangers, researchers and veterinary teams.
As crowds gather in Kinigi, Rwanda is using the 21st Kwita Izina to deliver a broader message: protecting endangered wildlife can work alongside tourism, investment and community development. In its announcement, RDB invited audiences to “join Rwanda in celebrating mountain gorilla conservation and the communities and partners who make it possible.” The message captures the central purpose of the ceremony—recognizing that the continued survival of mountain gorillas depends not only on protected forests, but also on the people and partnerships committed to safeguarding them for future generations.
