The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandan Gorilla Conservationist, Dr. Gladys Kalema is one of the winners of this year’s People, Environment. Achievements (P.E.A) Awards.
The 14th edition of the awards recognized individual for their tireless and inspiring efforts to flip the script and demonstrate that sustainable business is good for bottom lines as well as the planet. Winners were celebrated in sectors ranging from Arts and Energy to influencers and indigenous communities.
Dr. Gladys Kalema was the overall winner of the food category. This category aimed at finding out how we could successfully feed a growing population with finite resources. Her organization has been helping people around Bwindi to grow Arabica coffee.
The organizer of the award sought to hear about the individuals spearheading projects that put nature at the center of the food system, and the people campaigning for healthy, sustainable food for all.
The judges were amazed by the way Dr. Gladys is giving smallholder farmers on the outskirts of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) access to global agricultural commodity markets, increasing incomes and resilience while reducing threats to forest resources and mountain gorillas.
The runners-up were Kenneth Rimdahl, Forest Friendly Tea; Liberation Foods (team); Lou Palmer-Masterton, Stem & Glory; Marc Coloma, Heura Foods.
Who is Dr. Gladys Zikusoka Kalema?
Gladys Kalema is Uganda’s first wildlife veterinary doctor. She has spent close to thirty years working to save the endangered mountain gorillas. She was one of the BBC’s 100 Women for 2023.
Kalema immersed herself in studying Mountain Gorillas right when she decided to study veterinary medicine in 1994 at the University. Her study looks at parasites and bacteria in the fecal sample of mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
She was the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health in 2003. She is widely recognized for having pioneered the “One Health Approach To Conservation“ She has been linking national conservation, public health institutions, as well as communities to create fresh institutions and resources that improve both animal and human health.
Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2006 in recognition of her idea linking Uganda’s wildlife management and rural public health programs to create common resources that benefit both people and animals. She is also a national geographic explorer. In 2022, Kalema-Zikusoka won the Edinburgh Medalfor her work in planetary health.
“This year the very worthy recipient, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, is being recognized for her pioneering work in community-led wildlife conservation and raising awareness of how human health and the health of the natural world are inextricably linked. Throughout her career, Dr Kalema-Zikusoka has worked to improve the quality of life of people and wildlife to help them coexist, advocating for integrated approaches that balance human needs with conservation concerns. Her work is vital,” saidEdinburgh’s Lord Provost Frank Ross.
She joined the ranks of Dr. Jane Goodall, Professor Wangari Mathaii and Sr. David Attenborough, the previous winners of the Edinburgh Medal. She was a finalist of the 2020 Tällberg Eliasson Global Leadership Prize because of her One Health approach to Conservation.
Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusooka was selected to join the WHO Special Advisory Group for the origin of novel pathogens based on the work she did during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, she won the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes for her work in fighting zoonotic disease or disease that can spread to animals. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is the author of Walking With Gorillas.
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