Deogratias Tuyisingize Children and teachers participated in a World Bird Festival event at Volcanoes National Park Zoom In

Students celebrate birds in Rwanda

23-10-2006

Teachers and 50 children from Nyabirehe Primary School joined staff from Karisoke Research Center to celebrate local bird life. The school is close to Volcanoes National Park, one of seven Important Bird Areas (IBAs) identified in Rwanda. The children performed dances and sketches on the importance of bird conservation. The Volcanoes National Park Local Community Warden, Janvier Kwizera, praised the school for its initiative and asked the pupils to be ambassadors in the local population, raising awareness of environmental issues and protection of biodiversity. Claudien Nsabagasani, a researcher at the Center led a birdwatching excursion around the national park and commented: “children were given the opportunity to identify and watch birds in their natural habitat, which helped to create awareness about their importance”.

Charles Ntaganda Students went birdwatching in Akagera National Park, an Important Bird Area (IBA) in Rwanda Zoom In

“Children were given the opportunity to identify and watch birds in their natural habitat, which helped to create awareness about their importance”. —Claudien Nsabagasani, researcher at the Karisoke Research Center

As part of the World Bird Festival celebrations, members of the Association pour la Conservation de la Nature au Rwanda (ACNR, BirdLife in Rwanda) and the National University of Rwanda-Nature Club (NUR) went birdwatching in Akagera National Park, an Important Bird Area (IBA) in Rwanda. The group visited Ihema Lake and saw herons, jacanas, marabous and egrets as well as a Shoebill (Balaniceps rex), a rare and endemic species of the Nile Basin. Dr Charles Ntaganda, chairman of ACNR said: “All the students were really interested in the avifauna of the lake and they took the opportunity to reactivate the NUR club to undertake activities related to conservation biology”. The event was funded by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and this was the first year Rwanda participated in the World Bird Festival.