Leading Protection for Grey Crowned Cranes Across East Africa

Each year a past Whitley Award winner is selected to receive the Whitley Gold Award – worth £100,000 of project funding – in recognition of their outstanding contribution to conservation. Donated by the Friends of WFN.

Dr Olivier Nsengimana, a veterinarian and former Gorilla Doctor from Rwanda, won a Whitley Award in 2018 for a successful campaign to conserve his country’s emblematic Grey Crowned Crane. Facing threats from the illegal pet trade and habitat destruction, the endangered Grey Crowned Cranes were heading towards extinction in Rwanda. Olivier and his team at the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA) transformed this situation, resulting in the wild crane population in the country quadrupling since their founding in 2015. RWCA successfully halted the illegal trade of Grey Crowned Cranes, and pioneered an impactful approach of engaging community members as Conservation Champions and co-creating nature-based solutions to mitigate habitat destruction.

However, without a strong transboundary collaboration, cranes may be well protected within Rwanda, but face increasing threats in neighbouring countries. Building on cross-border collaborations started with support of 2021 WFN Continuation Funding, Olivier has set an ambitious plan to secure protection across East Africa for the iconic bird and its wetland habitat via transboundary cooperation and community collaboration. Grey Crowned Crane photo by Lynn Von Gagen @Denver Zoo

SUPERHERO UNDER THREAT

Olivier took action to save his childhood “superhero” 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. With his Whitley Award in 2018 and in collaboration with government, RWCA was able to return every Grey Crowned Crane in captivity in Rwanda to the wild. Habitat loss is now the number one threat for the bird, as 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. Whilst RWCA have stewarded an increase in numbers in Rwanda, there is more to be done domestically and across borders, as Grey Crowned Crane populations are continuing to decline across Africa. Olivier_Nsengimana_Community_RWCA_Crane_champion_and_field_technician_monitoring_cranes_in_a_wetland_in_Nyanza_district

LET US PROTECT THEM

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 and recover from the degradation of the early 2000’s when more than half of the marsh was destroyed by agricultural activities and overexploitation. 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. Awareness campaigns are reigniting national ownership of the species, which is further strengthened by co-creating solutions which balance wildlife conservation with people’s livelihoods and development. As awareness and community initiatives have grown, so has the chorus of RWCA’s slogan, ‘Grey Crowned Cranes, let us protect them!’ Olivier_Nsengimana_Community_Children_from_APE_Rugunga_at_Umusambi_Village

CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACROSS BORDERS

Wetlands, which globally are disappearing three times faster than forests, are the most threatened ecosystem on the planet. Rwanda has 860 wetlands, which are both nesting sites for the crane and play a critical role in climate mitigation and adaptation. They act as carbon sinks, while also regulating microclimates and providing crucial water filtration and slowing floodwaters, protecting communities. 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. The collaboration will follow the successful model of empowering Community Conservation Champions, and involves government institutions and local leaders – including fellow past Whitley Award winners Jimmy Muheebwa from Nature Uganda, and Kerryn Morrison from International Crane Foundation – to create an integrated political framework for cranes and their wetland habitat across East Africa. Olivier_Nsengimana_Species_Grey_Crowned_Crane

WITH THE GOLD AWARD, OLIVIER AND TEAM WILL:

Develop an action plan for transboundary collaboration with the East African Community, working towards an inter-governmental signed agreement
Empower Community Rangers and Conservation Champions in Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania to collect data, monitor and protect breeding sites, and reduce habitat destruction, enhancing community involvement in wetland and crane protection
Raise awareness among communities in all three countries, promoting the wise use of wetlands and their importance for both people and wildlife, reaching at least 80,000 people each year

TOP FACTS:

Grey Crowned Cranes stand at 1.2 metres tall with a wingspan of nearly 2 metres.
The Grey Crowned Crane and the Black Crowned Crane are the only species of crane that roost in trees. Grey Crowned Cranes mate for life.
RWCA is founded and run by Rwandans, and is now one of the largest environmental NGOs in the country – with employment of community members in key roles as central to their success.

Find out more about Olivier’s past projects, supported by his 2018 Whitley Award and subsequent rounds of Continuation Funding, here.

Image credits: Lynn von Gagen, Denver Zoo (Grey Crowned Crane), RWCA (Field technicians monitoring cranes in wetland in Nyanza district)