One of Population Connection’s first partners was Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH). Based in Uganda, CTPH is an award-winning leader in gorilla and wildlife conservation. The organization’s mission is to promote biodiversity conservation by enabling people, gorillas and other wildlife to coexist through improved health and livelihoods in and around Africa’s protected areas.
Wildlife veterinarian and CTPH founder and CEO Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (also known as “Dr. Gladys”) started CTPH in 2003 to prevent the transmission of disease between people, livestock, and endangered mountain gorillas. CTPH also works to reduce people’s dependence on protected lands and the wildlife that reside there, improving their health and well-being in the process.
CTPH is a pioneer in the Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) development approach (also known as “One Health”), which recognizes the crucial relationships between people’s health and the environment. This community-based approach seeks to improve access to family planning and reproductive health care to help conserve wildlife and natural resources within communities living in areas with high biodiversity.
Our family planning services have greatly helped me plan well for my family on how to space our children and have manageable children. This has greatly improved our life for the better and I am forever grateful for our family planning services.
Rukundo Solomon, a VHCT from Mukono parish.
I benefited from CTPH family planning services. They have helped me look healthy and I am able to feed my children well on a balanced diet. I am also able to regain health after giving birth and before having another baby, which helps me to remain looking beautiful which has improved my lifestyle.
Ninsima Allen, a community member from Kanyamisinga village, Mukono parish.
With support from Population Connection and other partners, CTPH monitors 27 mountain gorilla groups in Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area, and delivers a community-led PHE model reaching over 40,000 people in 700 homes within six high human and gorilla conflict parishes around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Here are a few 2024 highlights:
Empowering Communities Through Health Initiatives
54,000 individuals across 10,600 households were sensitized on health and conservation under the One Health Model Household approach, increasing compliance from 22% in 2022 to 59% in 2024.
Family planning uptake increased from 42% in 2022 to 51% in 2024, benefiting over 5,400 households.
Women in Conservation
Introduced female Gorilla Guardians for the first time in 25 years, challenging gender stereotypes and enhancing conservation efforts.
We are excited to have women gorilla guardians for the first time in the history of HUGOs being established 25 years ago! beginning with three? previously thought of as “men’s work” by the men who said that “Women faint when they see a Gorilla” This is a huge step towards changing perceptions of conservation, wildlife stewardship and gender stereotypes, all things we are working to address.
Active Participation in Conservation
One of the 2024 “Ready to Grow” CTPH project beneficiaries in her beans garden in a frontline parish neighboring Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kanungu district, Southwestern Uganda
1,500 households benefited from the “Ready to Grow” garden project, improving food security and reducing pressure on natural resources.
2,223 youth participated in conservation-focused STEAM education, enhancing their leadership and environmental awareness.
This improved food security and community members are more motivated and have enough time and capacity to embrace and participate in the Model households program translating into reduced poaching incidences and other illegal entries that put pressure on natural resources and threaten survival of wildlife.
2) Improve the health and well-being of communities surrounding gorilla habitats in Uganda and DRC
2) Enhance active community participation in conservation, and
4) Increase uptake of One Health approaches in environmentally important landscapes.
Activities include scientific monitoring of the health of mountain gorillas living near communities, distribution of family planning supplies and information on reproductive health, and training on infectious disease prevention and sustainable livelihoods, such as environmentally-friendly coffee farming.
On this World Population Day (2025), we are excited to share with you that we are continuing to see new gorilla births in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, with the latest birth registered in the Habinyanja Gorilla Group. Towards the end of June 2025, Rukundo, an adult female gorilla from the Habinyanja family, gave birth to a lively baby. This new arrival increased the total number of family members to seven. Join us to congratulate this family on receiving a new bundle of joy.
We extend our thanks to Population Connection for supporting our advocacy for Population Health and Environment (PHE) activities.
Dr. Gladys is a wildlife veterinarian and conservationist. After graduating from the University of London, she established the first veterinary department in the Uganda Wildlife Authority. She led a team that investigated the first scabies outbreak in mountain gorillas, which was traced back to the people living around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This led her to establish the non-profit Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) in 2003, which promotes the 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.
Dr. Gladys has received several awards and accolades for her ground-breaking work. In 2023, she was recognized by the BBC as one of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.
Virtual Events with CTPH
World Rainforest Day - Panel Discussion with Global Partners
Based in Uganda (Conservation Through Public Health), Madagascar (Lemur Love), and Colombia (Women for Conservation), all three organizations focus on preserving their local forests through public health initiatives, education and empowerment programs for those living in communities bordering the forests, particularly women and girls. During the discussion, we learned more about how their unique programs are adapted for the conservation challenges they face.
Global Partners Series: Conservation Through Public Health
One of Population Connection’s first partners was Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH). Based in Uganda, CTPH is an award-winning gorilla and wildlife conservation leader. The organization’s vital mission is to focus on the health and interspecies relationships of wildlife, humans, and livestock in and around East Africa’s protected areas.
To mark this year’s Earth Day, we were joined by CTPH’s Founder and Executive Director Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka.
Population, Reproductive Health, and Climate Resiliency: Views From Latin America and East Africa
We heard from Rodrigo Barillas, Executive Director of WINGS Guatemala, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, Steven Bloomstein, President of the Turimiquire Foundation, and Janet Larsen, Founder and Principal of One Planet Strategies, about their perspectives on how population, reproductive health, and climate resiliency connect and what we can do to help.
Responding to COVID-19 Through a One Health Approach to Gorilla Conservation
Dr. Gladys is the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, an organization based in Uganda that practices the One Health approach to keep people and wildlife healthy where they live close to each other.
CTPH volunteer demonstrating how she gives Depo Provera shots
CTPH staff (Dr. Gladys is on the left, holding the sign) demonstrating their family planning education presentation
CTPH Gorilla Health Centre Sign
CTPH Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, Edwin Ainerukundo (L) with other NAPHENET members at the NAPHENET stall during World Population Day celebrations in Adjumani District
Infant mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Photo by Ryoma Otsuka
CTPH Lab technician noting down gorilla information on a specimen bottle before collecting fecal samples. Photo by Nick Penny
CTPH team monitoring Mubare Gorilla group in September 2020
Dr. Gladys analyzing gorilla fecal samples at the Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Center. Photo by JoAnne McArthur
CTPH Co-Founder and Chief Veterinary Technician, Stephen Rubanga, with students Vishaka and Fugina
Bwindi children, Lily and Martin
Dr. Gladys and the Uganda Wildlife Authority leading a team to conduct buffalo disease surveys at Queen Elizabeth National Park
Hope Matsiko preparing to give a Depoprovera injection at her home
Gorilla Guardians In Muramba Parish Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
A local woman receiving a family planning method.
One of the 2024 “Ready to Grow” CTPH project beneficiaries in her beans garden in a frontline parish
neighboring Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kanungu district, Southwestern Uganda
Saving gorillas by improving community health and livelihoods: Q&A with CTPH
Through our Global Partners program, Population Connection supports a growing number of grassroots organizations around the world working to increase access to education, public health and family planning services. Their…
