Site Visit for Gorilla Research Center in Uganda

Infant Mountain Gorilla. Source: www.ctph.org

During the week of April 26, Drew Hubbell will be traveling to Uganda to visit the site of a future Gorilla Research Clinic in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Hubbell & Hubbell Architects will be providing sustainable design services for the Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH)–a grassroots, nongovernemental, non-profit organization founded by Ugandans in 2002–with a mission “to improve primary health care for people and animals in and around protected areas in Africa by preventing and controlling disease transmission where wildlife, people and domestic animals meet.” (ctph.org)

The park is home to an estimated half of the world’s 720 critically endangered mountain gorillas, and borders remote human settlements with very limited access to basic modern health services and health education.

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO of CTPH, explains that this fragile ecosystem offers a special challenge because “humans share more than 98% of their genetic material with the great apes, so many diseases can jump between the species.  CTPH prevents and controls disease transmission where wildlife, people, and their animals meet, while cultivating a winning attitude toward conservation and good public health in local communities.”  (The Reporter, Feb 2010, Vol. 42, Issue 1, www.popconnect.org)

The new Research Center would enable more centralized research material to CTPH’s goals, allowing closer tracking of the gorillas; provide housing for staff members; and offer facilities to accommodate eco-tourism, a valuable income source for local communities that helps conservation education efforts in the area.

Because a successful project would require passive solutions and affordable local building materials, Bill Toone–conservation biologist and Founder of the ECOLIFE Foundation–introduced CTPH to Hubbell & Hubbell Architects.  Toone worked closely with Drew Hubbell on the Wild Animal Park Seed Bank, a super-insulated strawbale building designed for the San Diego Zoological Society.

We are very excited about this project, and look forward to hearing about Drew’s trip to Bwindi!

Learn more about the wonderful conservation work being performed by CTPH and ECOLIFE:

• Conservation Through Public Health on PBS’ FRONTLINE World:
  “Uganda: Out of the Wild.”
• CTPH website: www.ctph.org
• ECOLIFE monarch butterfly conservation featured on CBS Evening News: “Saving the Monarchs.”
• ECOLIFE Foundation website: www.ecolifefoundation.org