Awards and Accolades
This week, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), headed by social entrepreneur and renowned gorilla conservationist, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, has been announced the winner of the prestigious St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2020. The prize was set up by the University of St Andrews and ConocoPhillips in 1998 to recognize significant contributions to environmental conservation.
Since its launch, the St Andrews Prize for the Environment has attracted entries from all over the world each year on a range of diverse topics. Its purpose is to find and reward entrepreneurs who come forward with original and practical ideas for coping with specific environmental problems. Such ideas must be designed to lead to action, be realistic, realizable and easy to be replicated elsewhere taking account of their social and economic implications. Going from strength-to-strength, the Prize now has increasing international recognition. The diversity of topics supported continues to grow, but examples include: Biodiversity, Sustainable development, Urban regeneration, Recycling, Health and environmental health, Waste, water and sanitation issues, Renewable energy, Wildlife conservation including reducing animal-human conflict, and Land use and maintenance.
The announcement was made on Thursday 27 February 2020 at the University of St Andrews in Edinburgh, Scotland by the prize committee, honouring CTPH’s integrated and multi-faceted approach to conservation, public health and alternative livelihoods. Accepting the prize, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health said; “It is a great honour to be selected first as a finalist and then a winner for this prestigious prize. This prize will enable CTPH to replicate a community-based health and conservation model that we have been championing for 16 years with the endangered mountain gorillas of Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park whose population is now showing a positive growth trend, to a different sub species of gorilla, the critically endangered Eastern Lowland Gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The prize will enable us to improve the health and livelihoods of communities who share a habitat with critically endangered gorillas and raise the international profile of "One Health" as a holistic approach to achieving conservation and sustainable development.”
With 254 applications from around the world, CTPH is thrilled and humbled to be presented with the winning prize of 100,000 USD. Making the announcement, Dr. Hayaatun Sillem, Chair of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment Trustees and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering said, "This was another fantastic year for the Prize with applications coming from right across the globe addressing environmental challenges as diverse as deforestation, access to clean water, plastic waste and renewable energy. I would like to congratulate this year’s winner, Conservation Through Public Health, who inspired us with their holistic and collaborative approach to promoting the health of people, animals and the environment.”
Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of St Andrews said: 'Conservation Through Public Health is an outstanding winner of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment. It addresses the synergy between wildlife and human society and capitalises upon this to improve human health and wellbeing while conserving biodiversity and increasing protections for gorillas. It is an immensely inspiring, research-informed, and intelligent initiative, which has produced evidence-backed results during its over 17 years of operation'.
Find out more about the work of Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka and Conservation Through Public Health by visiting their website.