📷 Go for gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – Nnabagereka

Dec 01, 2023

“I would like to encourage all Ugandans to have this experience in their lives, which I also wrote about in my autobiography,” the Nnaabagereka she said. 

Nnaabagereka (C) said mountain gorilla trekking would expose people to the new innovative One-Health approach that allows gorillas, people, their livestock, and other wildlife to coexist harmoniously.

Eddie Ssejjoba
Journalist @New Vision

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The Queen of Buganda Kingdom, Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda, has asked Ugandans to go for Gorilla trekking, saying it is good practice for people to acquaint themselves with wildlife conservation.  

She said the mountain gorilla trekking would expose people to the new innovative One-Health approach that allows gorillas, people, their livestock, and other wildlife to coexist harmoniously by prioritizing their health and wellbeing.  

The Nnaabagereka remarked after her first mountain gorilla trekking experience in 2005, she was ready to go back to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest this weekend (Saturday) for the second captivating wildlife encounter.  

Nnaabagereka said when she was appointed the patron, she did not only see the mountain gorillas but also saw the work of CTPH and how they are engaged with the local communities and how they were protecting endangered mountain gorillas. (All Photos by Eddie Ssejjoba)

Nnaabagereka said when she was appointed the patron, she did not only see the mountain gorillas but also saw the work of CTPH and how they are engaged with the local communities and how they were protecting endangered mountain gorillas. (All Photos by Eddie Ssejjoba)

“I would like to encourage all Ugandans to have this experience in their lives, which I also wrote about in my autobiography,” the Nnaabagereka she said. 

She was Wednesday speaking at the Sheraton Hotel at the 20th anniversary of the Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a local NGO founded and led by Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka, a Ugandan award-winning leader in gorilla and wildlife conservation that champions the health of wildlife and ecosystems and humans.   

The NGO, which promotes good health for both animals and humans around Bwindi National Park with a major goal of preventing zoonotic diseases and increasing wildlife populations including gorillas, appointed the Nnabagereka in 2005 as their patron.  

Nnaabagereka said when she was appointed the patron, she did not only see the mountain gorillas but also saw the work of CTPH and how they are engaged with the local communities and how they were protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wildlife, which she said was a new approach.   

The Nnaabagereka (R), also unveiling of the NGO's five-year strategic plan.

The Nnaabagereka (R), also unveiling of the NGO's five-year strategic plan.

“I am looking forward to going there again this weekend, I am not sure how many hours it will take, but I am ready for whatever it will be,” she said, adding that in 2005, it took her ten hours to arrive at the park, which she said could have changed after the road network was improved. 

In her narration, the Nnaabagereka trekked for hours through the thick forests for the opportunity to see mountain gorillas for the first time and it was terrible.  

“I can vividly remember the Habinyanja gorilla group, which we saw, and I named one infant called Ntuuse, (I have arrived). After a ten-hour journey I moved from Kampala and after that trekked (in the forests) for another hour on a return journey,” she said.

She added, “Even though I was tired after the trek, I forced myself to again visit the gorilla clinic because I wanted to get acquainted with how the gorillas are attended to and how they are tested for parasites and other packaging as a measure to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases.” 

She commended the NGO for setting a best practice Public Health model that integrates population, health, and environment as well as promoting community-based family planning around Bwindi. 

“This approach resonates well with our work of the Nnabagereka Development Foundation and the Kisakaate where we strive to empower women, girls, and youth to realize their potential in life,” she said adding the impactful work, marked by two decades of dedicated efforts had led to CTPH reaching this milestone.  

The British High Commissioner to Uganda, Kate Airey, said the organization does not stop at championing practical and effective models on how to address the health of people and animals in the environment, but they were doing it in a way that directly addresses threats to humans and wildlife wellbeing.  

She said the model was a true idea of BUBU (Buy Uganda Build Uganda) by considering the community aspect.  

The organization also launched its five-year development plan, in which it intends to reduce incidents of zoonotic diseases in Uganda, increase uptake of One-Health approaches to other national parks in Uganda and outside, and strengthen community participation in conservation, among others.

It also boasts of reducing the transmission of diseases from humans to gorillas, improved hygiene, sanitation, and adoption of family planning methods, and improved national park management to protect gorillas. 

Dr. Kalema said she was pleased that because of their efforts, the mountain gorilla population had increased from 880 in 2011 to 1,063 in 2018.   

The Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda and Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka.

The Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda and Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka.

“When the gorillas get sick, we quickly reach out and treat them, when people are healthy, the gorillas will remain in good health as well,” she said.

Her efforts are also geared towards increasing tourist revenue remittances to the communities and rangers that look after the animals.  

“We still need to improve wildlife conservation and health and we need to go beyond Uganda to other countries,” she said. 

The Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda Dr. Rodha Kalema, 94, mother to Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka.

The Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda Dr. Rodha Kalema, 94, mother to Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka.

Dr. Kalema’s mother, Rhodah Kalema, 94, and her husband, Lawrence Zikusoka, and other co-founders and wildlife conservationists, attended the function.

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Dr. Kalema said she was pleased that because of their efforts, the mountain gorilla population had increased from 880 in 2011 to 1,063 in 2018. (All Photos y Eddie Ssejjoba)

Dr. Kalema said she was pleased that because of their efforts, the mountain gorilla population had increased from 880 in 2011 to 1,063 in 2018. (All Photos y Eddie Ssejjoba)

Dr. Kalema’s mother, Rhodah Kalema, 94.

Dr. Kalema’s mother, Rhodah Kalema, 94.

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