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ENDANGERED MOUNTAIN GORILLA KILLED IN COVID-19 CRISIS

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Silverback Rafiki dies at the hands of Poacher

It is with great sadness that we announce to you the untimely death of Rafiki, the lead Silverback of Nkuringo Gorilla Group in the Southern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.

Rafiki was reported missing in his group on June 1st, 2020. The next day, his body was found in Hakato area inside Bwindi Impenetrable Forest by a team from Uganda Wildlife Authority.

In a statement released by Uganda Wildlife Authority on 12th June 2020, “postmortem results revealed that Rafiki sustained an injury by a sharp device/object that penetrated his left upper part of the abdomen up to the internal organs”. “The team arrested a resident of Murole Village, Nteko Parish, Nyabwishenya Sub County, Kisoro District, who was found in possession of bush meat and several hunting devices including a spear, rope snares, wire snares and a dog hunting bell that were recovered from his house on June, 4th 2020”  the statement reads in part.

He was arrested along with three other poachers who he claimed to have shared the bush meat with.

Photo of the poacher who confessed to killing Rafiki. Photo by Uganda Wildlife Authority

Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) is saddened by this tragic killing of Rafiki by a poacher who claims that he killed the gorilla in self defense after he was attacked while setting snares for duiker and bush pigs. It has been nine years since such a similar tragic incident occurred  when Mizano, a playful blackback from Habinyanja gorilla group at Bwindi, was killed by a poacher in 2011.

“It is a huge shock considering what gorilla tourism has done to lift the Bwindi local community out of poverty, but also goes to show that people are hungry and the absence of tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this tragedy” said our Founder and CEO, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka upon hearing the sad news.

She added “Rafiki has grown up seeing people and trusted them, which made it easier for the poachers to get close enough and spear him.”

Sadly this tragic incidence has also left the Nkuringo gorilla group without a leader, and we are looking to see which of the three young adult male blackbacks will take over the group.
Nteko parish where the poachers came from is one of the target parishes with high human and gorilla conflict that Conservation Through Public Health works in. This poaching incident has shown us the urgent need to intensify our conservation education and community health programs. We plan to also support these  local communities with fast growing food crops to meet their immediate nutritional needs during this time of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as, continuing to engage them in  longer term alternative livelihoods including Gorilla Conservation Coffee to reduce their dependence on fluctuation-prone tourism revenue to feed their families.

The suspects are now detained at Kisoro Police Station awaiting trial in court. We hope the law will take its course so that they serve as an example for all poachers and those intending to engage in poaching.

Thank you very much for your ongoing support

Stay Safe and Healthy

From all of us at CTPH

Gorilla Conservation Coffee gets a Distributor in UK

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Gorilla Conservation Coffee is a social enterprise of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a nonprofit award-winning NGO founded by Dr. Gladys Kalema- Zikusoka, who was the first Veterinary Officer of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Gorilla Conservation Coffee was launched after Dr. Gladys visited farmers living adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. Here she learned that the farmers were not being given a fair price for their coffee and were struggling hard to survive, forcing them to use the national park to meet their basic family needs for food, fuel wood and other resources for survival.

Gorilla Conservation Coffee buys coffee at a premium price of $0.50 per kilo above the market price from 500 coffee farmers living next to Bwindi and supports them through training in sustainable coffee farming and processing. This helps to improve the coffee quality and increased production yield.

Gorilla Conservation Coffee further helps farmers by processing the coffee, then roasts and packs it and sells it in more than 60 outlets around the world. Supporting local farmers helps to protect the endangered mountain gorillas and their fragile habitat.

We are excited to let you know that we have extended our distribution in United Kingdom, with Moneyrow Beans supporting and distributing our sustainable single origin coffee.

Moneyrow Beans was founded by Vicky Weddell, a coffee enthusiast who is passionate about great coffee and supporting the local and international coffee community.

In her message to the new distributor, Dr Gladys notes that “We are excited to have our first distributor for Gorilla Conservation Coffee in the UK through this partnership with Moneyrow Beans. This will enable people in the UK to protect the gorillas by buying coffee from farmers around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, particularly important in this critical time of the COVID-19 pandemic when tourists are not able to travel to Uganda to visit the gorillas and support the local communities.”

‘I am very proud and excited to bring this great coffee to the UK and to support the important work of Gorilla Conservation Coffee and CTPH’, Vicky said upon receiving a shipment from Gorilla Conservation Coffee.

To make an order please write to Vicky ([email protected]) and support this important cause.

For more information, please visit gccoffee.org/

 

#SavingGorillasOneSipAtATime

@GCCoffee1

@MoneyrowB

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka’s Gorilla Conservation Coffee expands to new markets while protecting the endangered mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

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By by  Growth Africa

In 2017, we had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder, Gorilla Conservation Coffee. She was going through the Growth Africa Accelerator programme in Uganda and we were inspired by how she had collaborated with farmers in Bwindi to train them on how to grow and process quality coffee while protecting the mountain gorillas that dwell in the Bwindi Impenetrable forest.

We caught up with Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka recently to find out more about the growth and impact of Gorilla Conservation Coffee as well as their expansion to new markets and what is in store for the future.

 Update on Gorilla Conservation Coffee

Back then, Gorilla Conservation Coffee was engaging 75 farmers and now the number of farmers has grown to 500. They have embraced a model farmer network with support from Solidaridad where 25 model farmers each mentor 20 farmers. The number of women farmers being engaged has also grown from only 5 women in 2017 to 120 women, a good number of which are women youth coffee farmers, which was not the case before. To extend the impact in the community, Gorilla Conservation Coffee is also working with reformed poachers who have handed their tools to the Uganda Wildlife Authority and have embraced coffee farming.

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka with some of the coffee farmers in Bwindi area

How they overcame the challenge of not having a major market for green coffee

The biggest challenge they faced in 2017 was not being able to sell green coffee at a high price because most customers were more willing to buy roasted branded coffee at a high price as compared to the green coffee, which is more available on the market. However, Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka says they have made great progress in that area,

“One thing GrowthAfrica taught us was to really understand your customer so that you are able to realise the full potential of your business. We have been able to segment our customers and find those who are willing to buy green coffee at a high price. We now have a market in America. The customers buy the green coffee then and roast it and co-brand it in America and New Zealand as Gorilla Conservation Coffee.”

They have also had interest from a leading roaster in Holland and there is a lady who is hoping to market the coffee in different countries. What made the difference is they have found the right specialty roasters and traders who understand the story behind the coffee, the quality of it and they are willing to buy it at a higher price.

Current Challenges

The biggest challenge Gorilla Conservation Coffee faces now is not being able to satisfy the demand for their coffee which is higher than the supply.

“Now that we have created a market and built a strong brand that people know about, we do not have enough working capital to be able to buy coffee from farmers so that we satisfy the growing market.”

They not only sell their coffee in Uganda but also in America, New Zealand, South Africa, Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Kenya.  Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka added that they are currently looking for affordable financing so that they have working capital to buy coffee from the farmers and satisfy the demand.

Another major challenge they are facing is having to compete with brands that put gorillas on their packaging, yet they are not working with gorillas and farming communities adjacent to gorilla habitats. She admits that these brands confuse the market and there is need to differentiate themselves from them. To address this, they have partnered with Solidaridad on a plan to get special certification for coffee brands that support gorilla conservation.

 Global Recognition

Gorilla Conservation Coffee has received a lot of global recognition since 2017. In 2018, Coffee Review ranked them among the top 30 coffees in the world giving them a total of 92 points. That raised their profile globally and created opportunities for them to get more orders because the coffee is good and the story behind the coffee is great.

They have also grown their number of outlets from 30 to 60. The Gorilla Conservation Café in Entebbe is very popular especially among tourists and expatriates who get to sample the coffee before they buy. The café has experienced baristas and Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka noted that more Ugandans are drinking coffee which has helped them create a community around the coffee.

Dr. Gladys and team at Uganda’s first Gorilla Conservation Cafe in Entebbe

In September 2017, the UNEP Switch Africa Green (SAG) awarded Gorilla Conservation Coffee a Seed Award Winner. As part of the award prize, they got help in perfecting their business plan and they were put in contact with potential partner organisations.

In 2018, Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka was the second African to win the Sierra Club Earthcare Award, which has only been won before by Prof. Wangari Maathai. She won the award in recognition of her unique approach to environmental conservation.

In August 2019, they emerged 2nd at the Startup Africa Road Trip Awards. This award opened up an opportunity to visit Italy in 2020 where they will meet potential buyers and investors.

In February 2020, Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka’s Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) which created the Gorilla Conservation Coffee social enterprise won the prestigious St. Andrews Prize for the Environment in recognition of their significant contributions to environmental issues and concerns through the One Health approach with a focus on sustainability, conservation, biodiversity and community development.

Conservation Through Public Health was announced the 2020 St. Andrews Prize for the Environment winner

The winning prize of USD 100,000 from the award will enable Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) to replicate a community-based health and conservation model in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Impact from the GrowthAfrica Accelerator

Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka was motivated to join the GrowthAfrica Accelerator back in 2017 because she wanted to get better at running the business and learn how to attract investors.

“At the time, we only had one investor, World Wildlife Fund for Nature Switzerland and we wanted to connect with more potential investors. We liked the fact that GrowthAfrica makes you more prepared for investors and shares practical tips on how to attract the right impact investors.”

She also appreciated the recognition that GrowthAfrica has given them through profiling them and raising awareness on Gorilla Conservation Coffee saying it has contributed to building their brand and attracting support.

GrowthAfrica is also supporting them in registering as a B-Corp company which Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka admits will help to raise their profile in America.

What’s in the future?

The future is bright for Gorilla Conservation Coffee. They plan to engage as many farmers as possible around the Bwindi area and strengthen tracking along their triple bottom line, which is social impact, financial impact and environmental impact including reduction in poaching. They are also looking into scaling to other countries especially countries with communities that have gorilla habitats like Rwanda, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Related articles: https://growthafrica.com/coffee-farming-saving-mountain-gorillas-uganda/

https://growthafrica.com/disruptive-women-led-ventures-africa-meet-dr-gladys-kalema-zikusoka/

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From human-wildlife conflicts to a human-gorilla friendship

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Ruhondeza, the gorilla that lives on in the hearts and minds of the Bwindi community

The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a national park in Uganda, an Important Bird & Biodiversity Area, and an Eastern Afromontane Key Biodiversity Area. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, through a small grant facilitated by BirdLife International, supports Conservation Through Public Health in their effort to reduce human-gorilla conflicts in and around the park, and avoid the transmission of diseases. This story describes how a potential drama turned into a unique friendship between local people and a legendary animal…

By Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka – Founder and CEO, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH)

I have been working with mountain gorillas since 1994, when there were only two gorilla groups called Mubare and Katendegyere, habituated for tourism at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Now 25 years later, there are 17 gorilla groups habituated for tourism. Mubare gorilla group was headed by the silverback Ruhondeza, given that name because he liked “sleeping a lot”. Though Ruhondeza was smaller than the other silverbacks, he had the largest number of adult female gorillas to himself and was calmer than the Katendegyere gorilla group and therefore easier to habituate.

Katendegyere gorilla group eventually reduced in size, because there were too many males and only one female, and two years later the lead silverback, Mugurusi, meaning “old man” and named because he was very old when habituation began, eventually died of heart and kidney failure. I was called to check on Mugurusi when he could no longer keep up with the group and did a post-mortem on him a few days later. Fortunately, he did not have an infectious disease, however, a few months later his group developed scabies, a highly contagious skin disease more commonly known in animals as sarcoptic mange. This resulted in the death of the infant and sickness in the rest of the gorillas that only recovered after we gave Ivermectin anti parasitic treatments. The scabies was ultimately traced to people living around the national park who have inadequate access to basic health and other social services.


Kanyonyi, son of Ruhondeza © CTPH

In 2012, Ruhondeza also became too old, and he eventually could not keep up with the rest of his group. The Mubare gorilla group left him in search of food and he decided to settle outside the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in community land. When the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) park management called Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) to look into the possibility of translocating Ruhondeza back to the safety of the forest, we checked on him and saw that he was really settled and even if we moved him back, he would likely return to community land. We spoke to our Village Health and Conservation Teams (VHCTs), volunteers who liaise between CTPH and their community, about tolerating Ruhondeza in the village – particularly since his calm and accommodating nature had enabled gorilla tourism to begin in 1993, changing the lives and future for many people in the Bwindi community for ever. In the meeting the VHCTs assured us that even when their own elderly become very weak, they look after them, so why should this not apply to Ruhondeza as well?.

This resulted in Ruhondeza being accepted in the Bwindi community where they tolerated him eating banana plants or the occasional coffee berry. When the fateful day came and Ruhondeza was laid to rest, the Bwindi community members all came to pay their last respects to a legend. To this day he is remembered through the Ruhondeza village walk and other community experiences and also through his son, Kanyonyi, who took over the Mubare Gorilla Group after he died. CTPH named the first blend of our Gorilla Conservation Coffee after him.

Ruhondeza truly signifies how far conservation efforts have paid off in Bwindi, and that true friendship between people and wild animals is, indeed, possible.

Watch Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka talk more about how CTPH is working with local farmers to reduce threats to Endangered mountain gorillas around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park KBA 

BirdLife International runs the Regional Implementation Team (RIT) for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) investment in the Eastern Afromontane Hotspot (2012 -2019). See the interactive map of all projects implemented under the CEPF Eastern Afromontane Hotspot programme here.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation. More information on the CEPF can be found at www.cepf.net.

Please see original article as shared by Birdlife International Africa.

Gorilla Conservation pioneer and social entrepreneur, Gladys Kalema Zikusoka, acknowledged in new National Geographic film

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National Geographic’s new documentary, which highlights mothers working in wildlife conservation and more. National Geographic has just launched a new documentary film, Women of Impact: Changing the World, which features prominent conservationists who discuss how they’ve shared their careers with their children and inspired them to be passionate about preserving wildlife, too. One of those featured is the inspirational Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a wildlife veterinarian in Uganda, conservation biologist,  founder of Conservation Through Public Health and Gorilla Conservation Coffee.

Women of Impact: Changing the World, narrated by Julianna Margulies, is just one of many inspiring projects to come from National Geographic lately showcasing the groundbreaking work of trailblazing women all across the globe. Earlier this month, for instance, National Geographic released a stunning book containing 450 striking photographs from the magazine’s archives, which Susan Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of National Geographic Magazine, which serves as a “visual history of women.” The November 2019 issue of National Geographic Magazine is also dedicated to this theme as it’s “exclusively written and photographed by women.” In an editor’s letter, Goldberg says the issue aims to bring more women’s lives into the light — and more women’s voices into the conversation.”

Speaking about being featured in this special new documentary film, Dr Gladys said:

“I am greatly honored to be featured among other women explorers in the National Geographic film: Women of Impact: Changing the World airing this October. It is wonderful that our work at Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) with the mountain gorillas and local communities of Bwindi was featured in the documentary where our efforts to empower women are resulting in positive outcomes for conservation. We plan to also empower women coffee farmers through our Gorilla Conservation Coffee impact enterprise.”

To view the full documentary and trailer, click on the links below:

https://rumpus.natgeonetworks.com/_5lxoQMw4MVcJtR

https://rumpus.natgeonetworks.com/_YAx1gNdU4VIJQR

About Dr Gladys

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is a wildlife veterinarian and conservationist working with the endangered mountain gorillas of East Africa. After graduating from the University of London, she established the first veterinary department in the Uganda Wildlife Authority. She also led a team that investigated the first scabies outbreak in mountain gorillas that resulted in the death of an infant and sickness in the rest of the affected gorilla groups. This outbreak was eventually traced back to the people living around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park who have inadequate access to health care and other needs. This led her to establish Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a grassroots NGO and nonprofit that promotes coexistence of people, gorillas and other wildlife through addressing human and wildlife health together and improving alternative livelihoods in communities sharing their habitats with gorillas. Funding from National Geographic is enabling CTPH to expand this award-winning model to additional parishes around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and other protected areas in Africa. Through her work, Kalema-Zikusoka is also advocating for integrated approaches that balance human needs with conservation concerns.

Written by Lionesses of Africa

November 3,  2019