The seventh Kwita Izina gorilla naming is now underway in Kigali, Rwanda, with a specially-themed conservation conference kicking off this year’s event.

Over the next few days, the Gorilla Organization will join government officials, NGO workers, conservationists and regional wildlife authorities in celebrating and naming the 22 mountain gorillas born over the past 12 months.

However, before the party really gets underway, there is serious work to be done. Today, for example, our Rwanda Programme Manager Emmanuel Bugingo attended a one-day conference ,which saw eminent scientists such as Dr Juan Carlos Bonilla and Dr Tamar Ron give talks on the theme of ‘Forest Stewardship By Communities’.

As you no doubt know, ensuring that the communities living on the edge of the gorilla habitat play a leading role in conservation is central to the work of the Gorilla Organization here in Rwanda. So it’s not surprising that the table Emmanuel was manning at the conference proved a real hit with delegates, who took copies of our Digit News newsletters and other relevant literature away with them.

So, until I send you my next update from this year’s Kwitz Izina, here are a couple more pictures from the opening day’s conference…