BVetMed, MRCVS, MSpVMAshoka Fellow

Founder and CEO Conservation Through Public Health

11th November 2009

Baseline Survey To Implement An Integrated Gorilla and Human Health Model in the Batwa Community of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Alex Ngabirano, Charles Downing, Steven RubangaConservation Through Public Health (CTPH)ITFC Information Sharing Workshop, Ruhija, 27 November 2015

Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH)

• Scabies outbreak in mountain gorillas traced to Bwindi local community

• CTPH founded in 2003, promotes biodiversity conservation by enabling people, wildlife and livestock to coexist through improving their health and livelihoods in and around protected areas in Africa

Project Goals: Health and Poverty

• Improve hygiene, sanitation and health seeking behaviour:

- Facilitate formation of 11 more Batwa Village Health and Conservation Teams (VHCTs) to have model households, conduct couple peer education, work with Bakiga VHCTs to record data

- Reduce poverty among the Batwa

- Through family planning to have manageable families; Encourage them to join or create Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)

Project Goals: Reducing cross species disease transmission and conflict• Monitor and report

households visited by gorillas (VHCTs, HUGOs and park staff)

• Train/Retrain rangers and HUGO in gorilla health monitoring

• Train/retrain Community Animal Health workers to collect livestock samples

• Work with Local health centres and BCH to collect samples from humans

• Analyze gorilla, livestock, and human fecal samples for the same diseases

Project Goals: Conservation

• Improve conservation practices of the Batwa• Educate them on benefits of energy saving

technology• Integrate the Batwa better into UWA multiple use

programs• Conduct pre and post survey to measure

conservation impact • Disseminate lessons learned and best practices • Hold planning and evaluation workshops

Baseline survey of Batwa health and conservation attitudes and practices

• 138 households• 14 Batwa settlements living

along the park boundaries. • Kisoro: Nyabaremura,

Byabitukuru, Kasheija, Bubale, Rushanga, Kanyamahene, Sanyuriro

• Kanungu: Karehe, Buhoma, Nyabisika, Mukongoro, Rurangara, Kitahurira, Byumba

Baseline survey: Development

• Population 690 people – M 325/47%, F 365/53%

• 1% live in permanent houses, 80% in semi-permanent, 19% in temporary

• 26% of these houses are of good structure, 74% are bad

• 21% of the houses are clean while 79% are dirty

• 43% of the households have a kitchen and 57% do not

Batwa Survey: Development• Visible disparity among

development levels. Although many are found along the parks edge, those more isolated are left with very basic development, while those within easy reach are better developed.

• Isolation is measured by the ability to reach the settlement through roads and community paths.

Batwa survey: Latrine usage• 51% of households have a

latrine, 49% do not• Traditional latrines or the

bush is used • House latrines are in a used

condition, however 4% are clean and 96% are dirty.

• 3% of these traditional toilets have anal cleansing material, whilst 97% do not.

Batwa Survey: Hygiene Indicators

• 1% of households have a hand washing facility (of which only 1 is functional), 99% do not.

• 1% of households have a refuse pit, 99% do not. 14% of households have a bathroom shelter, 86% do not. Of those with a shelter, none of them are private. Of those with shelter, 5% are drained

• 4% of households have a drying rack, 96% do not

Batwa Survey: Hygiene indicators

• 86% of houses have a compound, 16% of those compounds are clean

• 1% of the households have an animal shelter• 63% have protected water source• 100% of all collection containers and storage

containers are dirty.• 0% of the population have food storage

Batwa Survey: Education and Health

• 98% of the interviewees have never attended school, and the 2% who have, studied only in primary

• 72% of households have children in school, 24% do not and 4% did not answer• 19% of households have had a child drop out of school,

53% have not, the rest did not answer• 78% of the households do not have immunisation cards,

22% do.• 49% of households have mosquito nets, whilst 51%

don’t

Batwa Survey: Conservation Practices

• 100% of households use firewood, all of which is sourced from the community.

• 22% of households use energy saving stoves, all of which are Masai (Ecolife Foundation)

• 96% of households use medicinal plants, but only 1 is involved in the multiple use programme.

• That is 1 interviewee of the 138 who is involved in the MUP. He only collects medicinal plants from the forest. The other 137 households are not authorised to be in the programme.

Batwa Survey: Conservation Attitudes

• 83% of households think gorillas are important.

- Brings economic development to the settlements through tourism (cultural shows, crafts and jobs such as porters).- Supports the community through development (housing, land, schools, hospitals and livelihood through seeds and animals).

Batwa Survey: Conservation Attitudes

• 17% of households do not think gorillas are important

- No support and unequal distribution of development aid, through housing, water, livelihoods, or jobs.- Denied access to forest.- Crop destruction.

Batwa Survey: Family Planning

• 23% of the households use family planning, 75% don’t and 2% did not indicate.

• 137 people answered how many children they had, of which 61% had 3 or more children.

• 123 people answered how many children they want to have, of which 55% want 5 or more children.

Batwa Survey: Livelihoods• 77% of the households

are part of a VSLA group, 22% are not and 1% did not indicate.

• 9% of the households have livestock, 91% do not

• Only 2 households have a vegetable garden, 1 grows pumpkins, the other cabbages

Animal % ageGoats 68

Sheep 22

Pigs 10

Cows 0

Chickens 0

Batwa Comments: For UWA

• UWA should employ more Batwa (rangers, trackers, porters)

• UWA should allow them to access part of park/forest (for resources such as weaving materials, honey and herbal medicine)

• Multiple use program should involve all Batwa• Need to be considered when revenue sharing (for

goats)• Park needs to consider Byumba on gorilla revenue

sharing

Batwa Comments: For NGOs• Request for: • Fish project• CTPH t-shirts• Livestock (goats)• House building materials

(other settlements were supported)

• Houses, toilets• Food• Agriculture (Irish potatoes,

garden tools, vegetable gardens)

Health Centres used by Settlements

Kisoro• Nyamatsinda HC II – Kanyamahane• Rubugiri HC IV – Rushanga, Kaseija, Bubale, Byabutukure,

Nyabaremura• Nteko HC III – SanyuriroKanungu• Bwindi Community Hospital – Karehe, Buhoma,

Nyabiseka, Mukongoro• Kanungu HC III – Byumba, Rurangara• Mpungu HC III - Kitahurira

Batwa Survey: Conclusion • A need to focus on Batwa with most animal/human interface• Scabies prevalent in most settlements 5/7 in Kisoro District, e.g.

Rushanga, during the survey, the children were present and prohibited from school due to a recent outbreak of scabies.

• Majority of settlements (4/7 in Kisoro) are frequently visited by gorillas and other problem animals

• . A need to focus on most isolated settlements to ensure same level of equality and to lessen resentment amongst the Batwa settlements.

• Majority of settlements (4/7 in Kisoro) are frequently visited by gorillas and other problem animals

Way Forward• Reduce skin diseases

(Scabies) in settlements• Continue with the 14 Batwa

VHCTs training and behavior change communication

• Promote goat enterprise development (on further discussion, fish farming was not feasible)

• Provide Housing for the most needy settlements by working with other NGOs, like BMCT (building workshops)

Thank You • United States Fish and Wildlife Service Great Ape

Conservation Fund for funding the Batwa project• Other CTPH Donors• ITFC• UWA• Kanungu and Kisoro District Local Government• Conservation Partners• Health Partners

www.ctph.org