Claver Ntoyinkima celebrates Tusk award as Prince William congratulates him
In the night of November 27, 2024, Rwanda featured on the list of Prince of Wales including three African countries that continue to write success stories in wildlife conservation.
At The Savoy Hotel, London, Prince William presided over the annual Tusk Conservation Awards’ ceremony, at which leading African conservationists were celebrated.
Malian Nomba Ganamé was honored with Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa while the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, went to Sierra Leonese Edward Aruna.
Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award was given to Rwanda’s Claver Ntoyinkima, Senior Ranger Guide and Trainer at Nyungwe National Park.
Ntoyinkima speaking at the event
“A devoted steward of Nyungwe National Park, Claver Ntoyinkima has won the 2024 Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award for his exceptional dedication to primate and bird conservation in Rwanda,”a note of organizers reads in part.
“Born near the forest he now protects, Ntoyinkima combines his deep ecological knowledge of the park’s bird population with a passion for educating and inspiring others,” it further reads.
“As a ranger, he has played a vital role in primate habituation and anti-poaching patrols, while also guiding scientific research and bird conservation efforts across Rwanda. His legacy extends to the next generation through conservation clubs he founded for local youth, fostering a lasting commitment to Rwanda’s natural heritage.”
While a few paragraphs summarized the motivation that led the jury to choosing him, Ntoyinkima’s story in conservation is a great inspiration to conservationists, and the future generation at large.
Bird watching, how the dream came true
Ntoyinkima does not know life away from the Nyungwe National Park; born in the outskirts of the park in the village of Ibanda, Rangira sector of Nyamasheke district, he understood the beauty of the park very early.
“From home, I could hear the loud sound of Warthog and Chimpanzee and tell my father that I would wish to see the animals myself,” Ntoyinkima recalls.
“And a huge indigenous tree in our compound used to host beautiful green pigeons. I had let my father know that I would be a pigeons’ farmer.”
The envy to dedicate life to the wildlife kept growing in Ntoyinkima until 2000 when he tried several exams to enter the dream business by Volcano national park in vain.
After several attempts, he won the exam to serve as ranger at his home park-Nyungwe, but he was quickly promoted as park receptionist.
Starting this job, he got in touch with researchers from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who were conducting research on birds, and because he was curious to deepen knowledge in avian life, he would follow them during his free time.
“When I started my annual leave in 2021, I spent a whole month with them, camping with them…which gave me a wide understanding of the birds,” he said “I learned and mastered the use of two important tools in bird watching; binoculars and a book,” he said.
At this level, Ntoyinkima was still at his desk of a receptionist, but every morning, before starting work, he could borrow tools and go for one hour bird watching, but his colleagues always mocked him.
With the book, Ntoyinkima could check the profile of a bird which he had seen for the first time to learn its name and other information about it. And with binoculars, he could zoom in a bird to see its colors, then he could again check its name in the book.
“A great challenge of all, was to master the sound of a bird without seeing it. In most cases, I was obliged to either wait until it comes out or to track its niche until I discover it,” he said.
Two years later, that’s 2023, to the surprise of his supervisors, Ntoyinkima requested to be a guide “because he felt his calling is not at the reception, but deep into the forest.”
He started a path which he never regrets.
In bird watching guide, he said, you are compelled to know the sounds of as many birds as possible; but the challenging side of this, is that you cannot see all of them.
Ntoyinkima with the birdwatching club recording the sound of the birds mid-November 2024
Knowing the name of the bird is not enough; Ntoyinkima also mastered the history of birds, their ecological niche and so on, which gives tourists the greater understanding of the birds when they are guided by Claver.
There is interesting science in it
As far as bird watching is concerned, Nyungwe national park is visited by three types of tourists; some come just to see as many birds as possible. For these tourists, what matters is to add every new name on their list.
Other tourists come with interest to know a lot about the birds they saw, while others come with a list of birds in which they have interests.
“Also called keen birders, the last category includes curious people or researchers who have a list of birds that they are tracking. These birders don’t care much about other birds that you may show them; they will not be satisfied until they see the birds on their list,” said Ntoyinkima.
For every bird that he shows a tourist, Claver will make sure that he tells them whether it is endemic or not. Endemic birds are those who live in specific ecological area.
For example, Nyungwe hosts birds of the Albert Rift Valley, a region which spans from South Western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania and then Southern Democratic Republic of Congo. Some birds are even a sole particularity of Nyungwe.
white casqued hornbill
“It is important to tell birders that the birds they are watching they may not see them anywhere else, unless they come back to Nyungwe,” Claver said.
Meanwhile, there are those kind of birds which hid a lot, yet birders love them. Claver learnt their sounds.
“It is challenging! But when you mimic them, they come to see who that fellow of theirs could be. There, you win!” said Claver. “It is a characteristic of territorial birds which like to stay in their lonely environment.”
Giving back to the community
As Claver was building his experience every other day, in 2009 he understood that it was important to involve children because they are quick learners. He started a bird watching club from Gisakura Primary school, Bushekeri sector, Nyamasheke district in the park’s vicinity.
“I trained them, and some persevered. The club so far trained 86 children, some of them have now grown up; 15 birdwatching freelancers have matured, including 5 who can guide keen birders,” he said.
Keen birders are the tourists who require to see specific names of birds. They require mature birdwatching tour guides who know to locate the birds and can directly take them to their ecological area without fail.
“All of them are proudly from our birdwatching club,” Claver said.
The club is not just about birdwatching, it is conservation of birds at large, being conscious of their role in human’s life.
“We for example remind the role of the birds in pollination, and in controlling pests in farms. The more we teach it to children, the more they in turn teach their parents to respect the birds,” he said.
So far, 4 students from the club graduated from university, while 6 others are now ongoing university students, all paying from freelance guiding. 
Nsengamugisha Remy, a university student is among the founding member of Gisakura birders club, now the president of the latter.
He said: “From childhood I dreamt to contribute to tourism in Nyungwe. When I heard about this club fifteen years ago from my primary school, I did not hesitate to join.”
Currently, Nsengamugisha is paying tuition fees from his earning as a freelancer guide courtesy of the skills learnt from the club.
Joyeuse Uwineza from from Senior 1 and member of Gisakura birdwatching club is also aware that it is important to take good care of birds “because they largely contribute to our good living condition.”
From the long list of birds that she knows, Uwineza was amazed by the black and white casqued hornbill, “because it has a beck which is more like a cow horn.”
Ibanda porters
In his home village of Ibanda, Ntoyinkima also brought together young men and women who are now serving tourists as porters, thus, earning their bred from the park.
“I also made a club of porters, who are improving their living conditions, now able to pay school fees for their children, to pay family health insurance, among other benefits.
In his village, some poachers who testified, said that they used to go to the park for firewood and others, but ever since they rebukes
Ibanda community including former poachers, now good neighbors of the Nyungwe national park. Mbonyinkima was born here
To bring children of his village on board, a couple of years ago Ntoyinkima brought 500 rabbits, gave them to the children of Kamatsira Primary school, together with fruit trees to plant.
“The idea was to inculcate in their lives the spirit of safeguarding the birds, and if they understand, their parents too, will understand,” Ntoyinkima said.
In the Tusk award, Ntoyinkima is not looking forward to taking all the benefits for his family, rather his objective is to tap into the environmental club and community activities relating to the park conservation.
“My main gains are not material; impacting many lives is the most rewarding thing in this profession,” he said.
