President Kagame Calls for Harmony of Human Needs and Biodiversity

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The President of Rwanda has urged researchers to work out ways through which biodiversity can be preserved in a way that is compatible with the growing human needs.

Kagame made the request while opening a three-day environment conference under the theme ‘International Research Conference on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Natural Resource Management’ at Kigali Serena Hotel yesterday.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of both plant and animal life in the world. “The challenge before us is to design and implement strategies to manage the delicate balance between conservation of biological diversity and human development needs,” Kagame told researchers from more than twenty countries attending the conference.

He said that Rwanda has registered some modest success giving an example of Gorilla conservation in the Virunga’s Volcanoes mountain Gorilla National Park. Rwanda Gorilla safaris currently contribute the highest portion foreign exchange in the tourism industry.

“Through the effective fostering of eco-tourism, these unique primates are protected in their natural habitats while ensuring a steady revenue stream for our country,” added the President.

The President remarked that some of the challenges Rwanda faces include lack of required capacities in most of the country’s institutions and weaknesses in scientific research, both in terms of human and institutional resources and called upon Rwandans to think afresh about the biodiversity challenges, presentation them as a profitable venture.

“We must abandon the old paradigm in which conservation was viewed as a governmental responsibility and as a matter of urgency, shift into a new mode of critical thinking and action where the protection of biodiversity is viewed as a profitable business opportunity, for both mainstream enterprise and small businesses,” he stressed.

Dr. Russell Mittermeier, the president of Conservation International lauded Rwanda’s accomplishment in biodiversity conservation, attributing it mainly to the political will.

“The President especially did a good gesture of reinstating Nyungwe Forest as a national park. His personal commitment to this cause is a major stimulant that will lead to better results,” Mittermeier said.

Mittermeier said that Rwanda was better placed to host the first ever conference given her geographic location which is in the Albertine Rift.

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