Team determination

Our work involves self-motivation and self-financing. TEG team determination to support the conservation of biodiversity and empowerment of youth living adjacent to nature reserves includes organizing online exhibitions and online behaviour change campaigns. With or without external support, TEG staff have volunteerly engaged with donors, government officials, and communities in designing the program, fundraising, and implementing it.

TEG founders and Alumni internal support in skills development trainings, in conducting baseline surveys and reflections on issues relating to conservation, in connecting with stakeholders, and financing of some of the activities.  

As a youth organization we have been growing by first willing to invest in ourselves, in our credibility and capability before attaching donors and partners. TEG Team and TEG alumni’s determination was our only asset to do that.

Long-term partnerships with the government and NGOs

Since establishment, CTPH has cultivated strong partnerships with government and other stakeholders, including other NGOs and the private sector. This ensures that CTPH’s work is in line with government priorities and strategies, is supported by the Government and aligns with other stakeholders. This was particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Government of Uganda instituted a strict ‘no movement’ lockdown to minimise spread of infection. Recognising that CTPH’s work is critical to the survival of Uganda’s mountain gorillas and the livelihoods dependent on them, the Government  granted CTPH special permission to continue its One Health activities.

 

CTPH’s advocacy activities are more successful due to the ongoing close working relationship that CTPH maintains with government institutions. This includes calling for park rangers and other conservation personnel to be amongst the priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination, primarily because of their close contact with Uganda’s endangered great apes which are highly susceptible to human respiratory diseases and because their survival is not only critical for biodiversity conservation but also for the Ugandan economy. CTPH also successfully advocated for the adoption of more stringent great ape viewing guidelines.

  • Routine communication and dialogue with relevant government personnel and departments as well as NGO and CBO partners
  • Regular and early stakeholder engagement that extended to academia and the private sector
  • Respect for CTPH and Gorilla Conservation Coffee amongst government departments, NGOs, tour operators and other private sector stakeholders as well as research institutions
  • Engaging stakeholders early, during project design and planning stages, is mutually beneficial and helps to ensure projects align with government and organisational strategic directions and priorities
  • Acknowledging government and other stakeholder support and input in external communication maintains trust
  • Joint proposal development helps to align priorities and allow for easier scale up and lesson learning
Alternative livelihoods

CTPH provides alternative livelihoods for our VHCTs, which include group livestock income-generating projects and Village Saving and Loan Associations that bring them together and strengthen the integrated approach. As community volunteers work without a salary this is a critical component to creating a sustainable program and resulted in no volunteer dropouts within the first 10 years of the VHCT program.

CTPH, through its social enterprise – Gorilla Conservation Coffee established in 2015, also supports alternative livelihoods for community members, to support income generation and, thereby, reduce dependence on natural resources to meet basic needs. Gorilla Conservation Coffee supports coffee farmers living around BINP through training and capacity building and providing access to national and international markets. Women coffee farmers are particularly encouraged to participate in the social enterprise, providing a source of economic empowerment for women in communities in which the financial sphere is particularly biased towards men. The social enterprise was created with support from Worldwide Fund for Nature Switzerland’s Impact Investment for Conservation Program. A donation is also given for every bag of coffee sold, to support CTPH’s programs, enabling sustainable financing for conservation.

  • Partnerships with experts in the coffee industry ensure Gorilla Conservation Coffee is of the highest quality (including being included in the top 30 coffees in the World in the 2018 Coffee Review)
  • A growing trend of lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) consumers
  • Effective branding and marketing support expansion of market, locally and globally
  • Global distribution partners support wide availability of Gorilla Conservation Coffee around the World
  • Increased incomes of coffee farmers engaged in Gorilla Conservation Coffee creates major incentive for others wanting to join Gorilla Conservation Coffee
  • Providing viable alternative livelihoods for smallholder coffee farmers and community members reduces reliance on natural resources to meet basic needs, reducing threats to endangered mountain gorillas and their habitat
  • Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) consumers are willing to pay more for a high-quality product which is ethically and sustainably produced and has a cause
  • Increasing liquid revenue is key to being able to increase quantities of coffee purchased, including being able to stock pile, to meet larger orders and re-invest additional profit into the social enterprise
Research conducted in a timely manner

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, students from the University of Kent and Ohio University conducted research with CTPH on the impacts of mitigation measures to avoid disease transmission to great apes and on the willingness of the National Park’s visitors to comply with these measures. Their findings were published in 2018 and 2020 and have been instrumental in convincing the Ugandan government to adopt sanitary measures in the Parks for tourists and management staff, while reassuring the Uganda Wildlife Authority that this decision wouldn’t impact the number of visitors coming to the park.

CTPH also conducts routine research to monitor the health of the mountain gorilla population, focusing on those which stray out of the forest into communal land most often or those that have been habituated for gorilla tourism and, as such, are more likely to come into contact with human infections. This routine health monitoring and research is conducted by observing for clinical signs and collecting gorilla faecal samples (non-invasively, from gorilla night nests) each day and analysing the samples for pathogens, particularly those of zoonotic significance. By doing so, CTPH has developed an early warning system for any concerning infections and can address these as needed in a timely manner.

  • Willingness of the health monitoring team and researchers to conduct the studies
  • Mutual interest in the outcome of the research study
  • Government and Uganda Wildlife Authority’s (UWA) support of the research, aided by good working relationships between CTPH, UWA and other government departments
  • Current context of the COVID-19 pandemic leant relevance and urgency to the findings and encouraged rapid adoption of safer Great Ape viewing guidelines, in line with the findings
  • Working closely with relevant government institutions enables more effective conservation efforts
  • Involving academia in conservation projects through long-term partnerships allows for obtaining timely results on key issues for decision-making
  • Evidence based research lends legitimacy to advocacy actions
Collaborative Partnerships

The process of responding to the mass mortality event, from the initial discovery of turtle carcasses through to eventual reintroduction of captive bred juveniles to the wild, was done through collaboration between government authorities, researchers, in situ and ex situ conservation managers, and local people who were personally invested in the turtles’ wellbeing. The communities living around the Bellinger River derive pride from the species endemic to their corner of the world, and their concern and participation as citizen scientists played a large role in raising awareness and ensuring resources were directed to the turtles. The government authorities were the central facilitators of the response, seeking out expertise across many sectors to ensure a comprehensive analysis was done.

The CPSG principle of neutral facilitation creates a collaborative and open-minded space to address conservation challenges. While the stakeholders involved in the response and workshop were from different sectors with their own motivations, the unifying end goal of developing a conservation plan that address all the risks the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle was facing was able to bridge those differences.

Conservation plans are often limited by the information on which they are based. By engaging with a larger scope of stakeholders, diverse and previously unconsidered perspectives can be captured in the planning process. This ensures all risks are considered, generating a more comprehensive and well-rounded management plan and a comprehensive foundation for long-term survival in the wild. 

One Plan Approach

Developed by IUCN CPSG, the One Plan Approach (OPA) is a method of species management that develops a conservation plan with input from all stakeholders involved with both in situ and ex situ populations of the species. This brings together conservation managers: field biologists, researchers and wildlife managers who monitor wild populations, and zoo and aquarium personnel who manage various ex situ populations. Experts, researchers, decision-makers, and stakeholder representatives were brought together for a workshop, hosted by neutral CPSG facilitators, to carry out a species status review, a disease risk analysis, and develop a conservation management plan.

The One Plan Approach (OPA) is a coordinated conservation planning process that seeks consensus decisions by multiple stakeholders in the best interests of the threatened species.  The most relevant information regarding the species and disease risks was gathered and shared prior to the workshop. By establishing a mutually respectful, collaborative environment CPSG facilitators enabled workshop participants to work effectively to develop integrated short- and long-term plans for the species.

The conservation planning principles and steps developed by the CPSG over 40 years guided a successful One Plan Approach to conservation of the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle following the 2015 mass mortality event. By approaching the challenge through a systems-based One Health lens, (encompassing interactions between animal, human, and environmental health), a plan that captured and developed mitigating strategies for the broad range of threats facing the turtles was developed. The inclusion of diverse and relevant stakeholders from the beginning of the process ensured the plan was based on the most current knowledge and widely accepted and implemented.

Effective One Health Response and Interventions to Wildlife Events

WildHealthResponse: Translating relevant health data into actionable real-time information supports stakeholders and decision-makers to structure and implement an effective multi-sectoral response—which in turn will optimize the health of wildlife, people, and livestock, and help prevent pandemics. Harnessing local knowledge informs decision-making and translates a global One Health vision into locally relevant solutions to halt species extinctions and threats to human and animal health and well-being.

- Effective networks in place through building blocks 1-3 for communication of results and coordination of effective response

- National strategies in place that ensure relevant personnel know their role and the processes for responding to different scenarios

- Good communication and collaboration between multi-sectoral response teams

- External financial support for LMICs and MICs until national budgets can support effective surveillance and response

Taking the time to put in place the initial three building blocks and national strategies enables the translation of relevant health data into actionable real-time information to support multi-sectoral stakeholders and decision-makers to implement an effective multi-sectoral response. This in turn will optimize the health of wildlife, people, and livestock, help prevent pandemics and demonstrate the benefits of wildlife surveillance networks, increasing local government buy-in for future self-investment.

Supporting Skills Development for Surveillance and Monitoring of Wildlife Disease

WildHealthSkills: WildHealthNet conducts capacity bridging and building with in-person and virtual trainings for all actors in the network, from field-based rangers to laboratory techs to national coordinators. The goal is to develop and share science-based protocols and best practices, and implement strong curricula so that each actor is empowered to fully participate.

- Long term financial support for technical expertise and input

- Government and local stakeholder awareness of the links between wildlife health and human health and well-being

- Government and local stakeholder interest and engagement in capacity development for wildlife surveillance and wildlife health monitoring

- Adequate human personnel without too much turnover, in order to maintain network

A foundational understanding of the links between wildlife/ environmental health and human and domestic animal health and well-being ensures better interest and buy-in for One Health competency training such as wildlife surveillance. Stakeholder-specific trainings (e.g. Event detection and reporting for forest rangers; Necropsy and pathology for laboratory staff/ veterinarians; Sample collection and handling for rangers & confiscation teams; Technology for network coordinator and rangers), multi-lingual training packages, with core competencies and evaluation tools enable broader reach and buy-in for capacity building and maintenance and continued expansion of the surveillance network national, regionally and globally.

 

 

 

Multi-sectoral network building for monitoring wildlife diseases for One Health

- WildHealthBuild: Building partnerships and breaking down silos across the human health, animal health, and environment/ wildlife sectors is an essential first step in planning and implementing wildlife surveillance for One Health intelligence, improving coordinated result sharing and response and the likelihood that networks and sustainable and used to guide science-based policy and disease control mechanisms going forward.

- Long-term funding from international donors

- Support and buy-in from national government actors at local, provincial, and national levels

- Support and buy-in from central government across human health, animal health, and wildlife/ environmental sectors

Convening regular multi-sectoral meetings for open discourse on the challenges and opportunities to monitoring and management of disease at the wildlife-human-livestock interface, and improving communications and trust between and across sectors, is critical in the joint development of functional, long-term wildlife surveillance networks for One Health intelligence, and adoption of associated policies. This takes considerable time and a sustained effort, often, unfortunately, outside of the normal funding cycles of donor agencies.

4 Interpretation of the assessment results

Automatically the results are generated by the IMET and are easily interpreted. IMET contains several data visualization tools, based on an embedded statistical analyses. As soon as the assessment is completed, scores and bar-charts are displayed. Aspects which need attention are coloured along a colour and percentage scale. This makes it very simple ans easy to allocate resources to where they are most needed.

Clear identification of priorities to focus future management, funding and resources.

 

Praise of the current management of resources. Even though the PAs have only around 16% of the resources i.e. personnel, materials and financing that is estimated to be required, they are achieving almost 50% in terms of outputs.

 

In January 2022 the national director of the environment of Cabo Verde  attended an online meeting to discuss our project and findings.

IMET highlighted the problems faced by the PA management team – e.g. the lack of employees. There are just three people employed to manage 14 protected areas which is beyond human capacity and really emphasised need to employ more people. 93% of the total operating budget for RNT was provided by the NGOs, and only 5.6% was provided by the government.  Understanding these input aspects allows the planning of a sustainable approach to management through the implementation of eco-tourism which could provide a stable and constant income in the long-term. 

 

We realised that there are no baseline data for the two PAs and so we do not know if pressures such as tourism or climate change are having a negative impact on the PAs as there is nothing to compare future values to. In order for the PAs to be sustainably managed, an understanding of the resources, features and ecosystems present is needed to see if any changes are occurring.  

 

The process also highlighted the importance of the roles of the NGOs and their contribution in terms of financial, personnel and material resources.