UK charity, the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), recognised Dr Olivier Nsengimana with the 2025 Whitley Gold Award for his leadership in rebuilding the Grey Crowned Crane population in Rwanda and for an ambitious plan to secure protection across East Africa for the iconic bird and its wetland habitat.
Charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, presented the Whitley Gold Award, the £100,000 top prize, on 30 April at the Royal Geographical Society. The event will be live streamed to YouTube.
The veterinarian and former Gorilla Doctor has overseen growth in the Grey Crowned Crane population to 1,293 from an estimated 300 in the wild since founding the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA), of which he is also chief executive officer, in 2015. RWCA’s expansion will be modelled on Rwanda’s successful protection of mountain gorillas via transboundary cooperation.
In just one decade, RWCA has halted the illegal trade in cranes in Rwanda, where they were captured as pets and prized as symbols of wealth and longevity; collaborated cross-border with partners in Tanzania and Uganda to broaden protection for cranes; and expanded to become one of the country’s biggest environmental NGOs, with a staff of 269.
Often called the “Land of a Thousand Hills,” Rwanda is less known for its 860 wetlands, which are both nesting sites for the crane and play a critical role in climate mitigation – as carbon sinks, and by slowing floodwaters, protecting communities. With Gold Award funding, Olivier and his team will deepen transboundary ties with the hope of creating a political framework for wetland conservation with Tanzania and Uganda and take steps to expand to Burundi.
“With one million species at risk of extinction, it is vital we find innovative ways to re-connect people with nature and co-create solutions to this crisis.”
Olivier took action to save his childhood “superhero” – which stands 1.2 metres tall with a wingspan of nearly 2 metres – after he moved to Kigali from rural Rwanda and found the crane close to extinction, languishing in urban gardens and hotels, sometimes injured and often unable to breed. He won a Whitley Award in 2018 for a successful campaign to rehabilitate the bird. In collaboration with the Rwandan government, RWCA was able to return every Grey Crowned Crane in captivity in Rwanda to the wild. The Grey Crowned Crane and the Black Crowned Crane are the only species of crane that roost in trees and mate for life.
Habitat loss is now the number one threat for the bird, despite its legal protection in Rwanda, and Uganda. Despite seeing an increase in numbers in Rwanda, Grey Crowned Crane populations are continuing to decline across Africa. Agricultural expansion in Rwanda, which has the densest human population in Africa, and one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is creating competition with people for resources. Climate change and the illegal international pet trade are also threats.
“I feel strongly about the need for local home-grown solutions for conservation problems and the importance of trusting local organisations to do the work.”
Olivier and his team are stepping up efforts to protect Rugezi Marsh, a Ramsar site home to around one-quarter of Rwanda’s population of the bird. RWCA joined government efforts to restore the high-altitude marsh, more than 2000 metres above sea level, and recover from the degradation of the early 2000’s when more than half of the marsh was destroyed by agricultural activities and overexploitation. Rugezi is also one of Rwanda’s strategic water reserves, whose rivers feed into the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo which help to meet the growing demand for electricity from Rwanda’s expanding population.
Wetlands, which globally are disappearing three times faster than forests, are the most threatened ecosystem on the planet. With the Whitley Gold Award, Olivier’s team will strengthen the trans-boundary collaboration with partners in Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi through the successful model of “community conservation champions,” who safeguard the crane populations and prevent overharvesting of water and grass at wetlands. It will also boost training for the 75 community rangers at Rugezi Marsh – one-third of whom are women – and increase awareness to promote the wise use of wetlands.
Rwanda has aspirations to become a middle-income country by 2035 and RWCA has tapped into the growing dynamism and pride in the environment – the country was one of the first in the world to ban single-use plastic bags – and revenues from tourism to see the country’s gorillas and natural resources – hit a record in 2023.
RWCA initiatives for communities living near Rugezi Marsh include a popular annual Umusambi Football Tournament for both men and for women as well as an 89 km cycling tournament for locals, amateurs and professionals, around the marsh in partnership with the Rwanda Cycling Federation.
Inspired by the proverb “three stones are needed to have a cooking pot standing,” symbolising unity and collective responsibility, Olivier says what felt like a personal solo mission has expanded as Rwandans join forces “building momentum and love for Rwanda and its wildlife.” RWCA’s collaboration extends to Nature Uganda, the International Crane Foundation, Nature Tanzania, ABN (Association Burundaise pour la protection de la Nature), national government institutions, district-level authorities and local leaders, including Whitley Award winner, Jimmy Muheebwa, in Uganda.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Dr Olivier Nsengimana started his career as a field veterinarian for Gorilla Doctors, providing life-saving veterinary care to mountain gorillas. He received a master’s degree in veterinary sciences, conservation medicine from the University of Edinburgh in 2015. He founded RWCA the same year. Olivier was born in 1984 and trained as a vet from 2004 to 2010, graduating top of his class at University of Rwanda and receiving the Dean’s award.
WHITLEY FUND FOR NATURE
The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is a UK charity supporting grassroots conservation leaders in the Global South. Since its creation in 1993, it has channelled £24 million to 220 conservationists across 80 countries.
An early pioneer in the sector WFN was one of the first charities to channel funding directly to projects led by in-country nationals. Its rigorous application process identifies inspiring individuals who combine the latest science with community-based action.
WFN’s flagship prizes – Whitley Awards – are presented by charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, at a prestigious annual ceremony in London at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). Winners receive funding, training, and profile boost, including short films.
The 2025 Whitley Awards Ceremony took place on Wednesday 30th April at the RGS and streamed live on YouTube from 7:30pm BST. The 2025 Whitley Award winners are:
- Dr Yara Barros from Brazil who is protecting jaguars by teaching communities to co-exist with the apex predator in Iguaçu National Park in the Atlantic Forest.
- Reshu Bashyal from Nepal who is addressing widespread poaching of orchids and yews, driven by international demand for their medicinal and ornamental value.
- Dr Federico Kacoliris from Argentina who is expanding protection for the country’s most threatened amphibian, the El Rincón stream frog, and its river habitat in the volcanic Somuncura Plateau.
- Dr Andrés Link from Colombia who is protecting brown spider monkeys in the lowland rainforests of central Colombia and reconnecting the species’ fragmented habitat through a network of private protected areas
- Rahayu Oktaviani from Indonesia who is ensuring continuous canopy for the Endangered Javan gibbon on Java, one of the most densely populated islands on earth.
- Dr Farina Othman from Malaysia who is saving the last 300 Bornean elephants in the east coast of Sabah State in Malaysia’s Borneo by working with large and small palm oil stakeholders.
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