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.

CTPH has been implementing a successful community health and conservation model in BINP since 2006. Community health is implemented through Village Health Teams, a recognized Ministry of Health structure in Uganda who are trained as Village Health and Conservation Teams (VHCTs) to promote health together with conservation. VHCTs are local community volunteers who deliver integrated community based services to individual households to promote good health-seeking behaviour, hygiene practices, infectious disease prevention and control, family planning, nutrition; and conservation education. VHCT networks are sustained through group livestock income generating projects, which they reinvest into Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs). CTPH focuses particularly on engaging women, both as VHCTs as well as during VHCT activities, as women are primarily responsible for their families’ health and wellbeing and are, therefore, in the best position to make positive changes for improved household health. As VHCTs, women have taken on a leadership role in the community, elevating their status and supporting improved gender balance.

CTPH successfully scaled up the VHCT and VSLA model from Kanungu to another district, Kisoro around BINP, home to the world’s endangered mountain gorillas.

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.

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.

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 intervention involves the 11 municipalities that cover the six Ramsar sites and 19 Natura 2000 sites. They signed a cooperation agreement for joint decision-making in the form of the Oristano Coastal Wetlands Contract, under the Italian legislation that regulates the river contracts (art. 68-bis Legislative Decree 152/2006), The Contract defines strategies, guidelines and actions that steer the definition of intended outcomes and actions and inform monitoring and evaluation of the intervention. 

The Action Plan, attached to the Contract, summarises the planning of actions, funded and not, regarding the main important issues, such as restoration, climate change, water quality, hydrological risk, cultural and landscape promotion and valorisation. As part of the implementation of the Nature-based Solution, relevant public and private sector stakeholders were consulted. They were identified based on stakeholder analysis and include affected sectors.

The Maristanis project is focused on different topics: governance, restoration, water consumption, protection of protected species and cultural heritage. A selection of implemented activities is reported below: 

The Renaturalisation and restoration of a riparian strip in the Sal'e Porcus pond aims at thickening the vegetated areas along the pond banks, creating a filter zone between the areas dedicated to agricultural activity and those of higher natural value. This improves the health of the habitats present and reduces their fragmentation and the conservation status of the ecosystems. 

An artificial island for nesting has been created with waste products from mussel farming, mussel shells that cannot be sold or that are leftover from production, with the aim of nesting important species of sea birds, Terns and Laryngites, that already frequent the area.

 A precision agriculture project has been developed in the area focusing on the efficient use of water and other inputs (including chemical products such as fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides). Several technologies were tested in pilot projects to reduce water use in farming activities. The most successful pilot experience was the use of drones to map the soil and check for water and other input requirements. 

- 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.

WildHealthTech: WildHealthNet develops and employs innovative, appropriate, and user-friendly technologies for surveillance. With proven, globally distributed, open-source software (e.g., SMART for Health) and hardware like handheld cell phone devices for data collection and diagnostics, WildHealthNet supports effective and timely communication of data for improved reporting of wildlife health and rapid response.

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.