Rwanda President, Paul Kagame, publicly endorsed a petition to establish September 9th as World Great Apes Day, referring to a recent petition submitted by the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations General Assembly.

President Kagame gave his support during his speech at the annual Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony on September 5^th  near Volcanoes National Park, home of the last groups of wild mountain gorillas.

According to GRASP/ UN, which also supports the petition, the President declared:  Gorillas are precious and important,” Kagame said. “I hope this serves as a reminder to keep promoting conservation activities so that we can gain even more and achieve more development.”

In 2005, a lot of countries signed Kinshasa Declaration for Defense of Great Apes. GRASP was born due to this arrangement and today a unique alliance of 100 national governments, conservation organizations, research institutions, United nations agencies, and private companies committed to ensuring the longterm survival of great apes in Africa and Asia.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International