Grey Crowned Crane population in Rwanda on the rise!
RWCA has been conducting an annual population census of Grey Crowned Cranes since 2017. Before we started our work, population estimates were between 50 and 300 cranes left in the wild in Rwanda. In our very first census, we sighted 487 cranes and this year we were delighted to sight 748! In addition to this, the number of juveniles had risen, suggesting an increase in breeding success. This is a huge achievement and shows that some of our interventions are working. However, we also put this success down to our better understanding of cranes in Rwanda and the support of our national network of Community Conservation Champions who monitor cranes throughout the year. Despite this fantastic news, we are not ready to stop and want to ensure that the population of cranes in Rwanda is stable over the long term. We also want to collaborate with our neighbouring countries to protect cranes across the region.
RWCA’s mission is to provide sustainable solutions to critical wildlife conservation issues in Rwanda and the East African region using a holistic and multi-disciplinary, One Health Approach.
RWCA Highlights
Our goals are to… Provide a holistic multi-disciplinary approach to critical conservation issues in order to create sustainable solutions ❖ Protect wildlife and natural habitats ❖ Engage and educate local communities and improve livelihoods ❖ Raise awareness of conservation issues ❖ Build the capacity of young Rwandese veterinarians and conservationists ❖ Disseminate high quality research and evaluation Our Achievements of 2019
Protecting Wildlife and Natural Habitats
We have now successfully reintroduced 160 captive Grey Crowned Cranes to Akagera National Park where they are enjoying their freedom.
Our aim is to remove ALL Grey Crowned Cranes from captivity in Rwanda
We have removed 233 cranes from captivity, passing through our quarantine facility.
We have reintroduced 160 cranes to Akagera National Park and 51 to Umusambi Village
(22 cranes are currently at the quarantine facility and will be released soon)
Umusambi Village: home to 51 Grey Crowned Cranes that were disabled as a result of living in captivity. 19 hectares of naturally restored wetland is giving the cranes a new home and a new found freedom
Within 2 months of moving into their new home, cranes have been forming couples, making nests and laying eggs. 3 chicks have hatched already and once fledged, they can choose to fly out of the sanctuary and explore other areas. Our team of 25 rangers completed 762 patrols of the marsh in 2019 (approximately 64 per month). They conducted joint patrols, to build collaboration with local security and other stakeholders.
Our rangers have increased law enforcement at Rugezi Marsh, completing daily patrols of the marsh to educate community members, reporting illegal activities and monitoring populations of Grey Crowned Cranes. 6 additional rangers were recruited in October bringing the team up to 31.
374 cases of illegal activities were identified and 192 of these were serious enough to be reported to local leaders (51%) and of those, 184 were successfully followed up by the local leaders (96%).
Our youth club members work to promote habitat restoration through the planting of indigenous trees around key biodiversity areas to improve habitats and encourage biodiversity. They also planted 230 fruit trees for nutritional benefits.
RWCA promotes the idea of ‘growing’ trees rather than just ‘planting’ them. We put a lot of efforts into the care and follow up of our trees and encourage community members to take ownership over their trees
6,480 indigenous trees were planted this year and 2,926 saplings were supplied to other organisations through our indigenous tree nursery.
212 community members were paid to be involved with restoration activities, preparing the ground for planting and participating in follow up activities of tree sites. We also took the opportunity to raise awareness about the work we are doing.
Engaging and Educating Local Communities
This year we engaged 9,346 school children in our education campaigns, distributing over 3,777 comic books.
The number of youth environmental clubs increased from 2 to 9 with 677 children regularly participating in environmental education and actions within their communities. They also participated in an educational arts program with Conservation Heritage Turambe
With trained youth club mentors using the PACE materials (Pan African Conservation Education), the groups have been inspired to take action within their communities and have planted trees, created kitchen gardens, learned to identify different birds in their area, collected 1,222 kg of plastic, and helped to clean rivers.
Our passionate and dedicated team of 30 Conservation Champions work voluntarily in their communities at key biodiversity hotspots around the country. They engage and educate local communities, raising awareness of Grey Crowned Cranes and the need to protect them. They are deterring people from activities such as poaching or cutting down trees and trying to reduce human- wildlife conflict. In 2019, they have organised 102 events reaching 11,026 community members. The Champions are also recording sightings of wild Grey Crowned Cranes.
We organised 2 training workshops with 364 local leaders around Akagera National Park and Rugezi marshland, to raise awareness, increase law enforcement and collaboration with our teams of Rangers and Champions in combating illegal wildlife trade.
Raising Awareness of Conservation Issues
We held 3 large community campaigns happening on market day in busy areas with a stage, music, competitions and prizes. We reached over 6,300 people with our conservation messages.
7 additional campaigns took place around Akagera National Park by our Crane Project Officer and 8 community events were organised by our team of Rangers at Rugezi Marsh, bringing the total of community members reached to 22,800.
We also organised a last media campaign to call the end of the amnesty for people keeping cranes as pets. RWCA was featured on 4 national radio stations, 4 local radio stations, Rwanda Television and 8 online news articles.
Building our Team’s Capacity
Our Marsh Rangers took part in a two-week intensive ranger training on ranging techniques, community conservation, biodiversity and law enforcement.
We organise regular training workshops for our field staff. This year, 67 of our Rangers, Champions and Youth club mentors improved their communication and team work skills. They also received further training on using the CyberTracker app, monitoring breeding success of cranes and about the important role of bats
6 of our staff members have participated in international training opportunities and have improved capacity and learning related to their roles
7 of our staff members have participated in meetings, workshops or working groups within Rwanda, have learnt about national strategies for conservation and have contributed RWCA’s experience.
3 of our staff members have received scholarships to further their studies, including one of our Marsh Rangers
Our bat team members have benefited from working with international experts from Bat Conservation International, Max Planck Institute and individual experts from Mexico and Kenya. Our crane team benefited from working with Dr. Barry Hartup from International Crane Foundation. Research and Evaluation
In addition to the third national Grey crowned Crane census, our teams of Conservation Champions and Marsh Rangers regularly record sightings of Grey Crowned Cranes using the CyberTracker app. 1,045 sightings have been recorded in 2019, alongside breeding behaviour and habitat preferences.
In addition, we continue to monitor the cranes that have been rescued from captivity and reintroduced to Akagera National Park. 136 tours have taken place, by boat and car inside the park and a motorbike to visit areas outside. 6 of the cranes have been fitted with GPS tags for further information on movement patterns and habitat preferences.
RWCA also works with bats and have been regularly monitoring the population of Straw- Coloured Fruit bats in Rwanda through monthly counts across 10 sites to assess their population, fluctuations and habitat preferences.
We have fitted 16 of the bats with GPS tags to better monitor their movements and have so far recorded bats flying all the way to neighbouring countries of Burundi and Tanzania!
A number of other research projects with both insectivorous and fruit bats have been completed in 2019 and the results are currently being analysed and compiled. These will help us to identify and quantify bat ecosystem services such as seed dispersal and pest control which will help us to focus our education and awareness raising messages. Awards
2019 saw our Bat Project Coordinator Marie Claire Dusabe win the Disney Conservation Hero Award, be recognised as a Houston Zoo Wildlife Warrior, as well as be awarded a National Geographic Explorer grant to continue the work with bats.
In addition, Dr. Olivier Nsengimana won the Future for Nature Award
https://futurefornature.org/ffn_winner/olivier- nsengimana/
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The RWCA team is growing! We all had the chance to come together for team building training this year and we are so appreciative of our passionate and committed team, working together to make a difference for Grey Crowned Cranes in Rwanda. Financial Summary
US$ Frw % Funds received in 2018 for 2019 220,558 200,269,612 Total income 2019 395,530 354,652,507 Project costs 465,704 418,913,115 Grey Crowned Crane Project 95,830 86,361,699 18% Grey Crowned Crane Sanctuary 140,729 126,708,514 27% Capacity building 55,989 49,957,510 11% Habitat restoration 8,539 7,764,200 2% Bat project costs 16,821 15,004,158 3% Other projects 16,325 14,797,999 3% Project Staff cost 96,992 87,144,515 18% Rangers and Youth club mentors 13,469 12,087,250 3% Vehicle Expenses 21,011 19,087,271 4% Operating expenses 60,951 54,802,415 Office administration 18,983 17,126,066 3.6% Audit costs 2,178 2,000,000 0.4% Support Staff costs 31,555 28,351,712 6.0% Fundraising 8,235 7,324,636 1.6% Total costs 2019 526,655 473,715,530 100% Funds designated for projects in 89,433 81,206,588 2020
Audit cost EXPENDITURE Fund raising Office Support Staff cost administration Grey Crowned Crane Project Vehicle Expense
Rangers and kids club mentors
Grey Crowned Project Staff cost Crane Sanctuary
Other projects Bat project costs Capacity building Habitat restoration With your support and encouragement, we have achieved so much and we THANK YOU!
For more information on the work we do please visit our website or facebook page. www.rwandawildlife.org www.facebook.com/rwandawildlife
Dr. Olivier Nsengimana Founder & Executive Director, RWCA