Conservation groups have launched a Shs94 billion ($24.55 million) ‘One Health’ project to safeguard endangered mountain gorillas and strengthen community health systems across the Greater Virunga landscape, officials said Wednesday.
The International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP), in partnership with the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration and with funding from the World Bank’s Pandemic Fund, said the initiative will boost preparedness against zoonotic diseases that threaten both wildlife and people living near protected areas.
‘This project will strengthen preparedness, prevention, and response to zoonotic diseases in the Greater Virunga Landscape where the mountain gorillas live and community members interact in the protected areas,’ said IGCP Executive Director Wellard Makambo during the launch in Kabale, southwestern Uganda.
He noted that diseases such as anthrax, Ebola, Covid-19, Marburg, and other respiratory infections have been detected within the region, heightening the need for early warning systems and coordinated health responses.
The Greater Virunga Landscape Coordinator, Paul Hatanga, who also serves as the World Wide Fund (WWF) project lead, said the program will span four districts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, four in Rwanda, and thirteen in Uganda, focusing on disease surveillance, veterinary capacity, and laboratory strengthening.
‘The project will focus on supporting One Health pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response in the Greater Virunga Landscape,’ Hatanga said.
He added: ‘Efforts will be focused on building veterinary and public health capacity to identify emerging zoonotic diseases that could impact both wildlife and humans.’
The World Bank-funded initiative, implemented with partners including Gorilla Doctors and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), seeks to ensure that by 2028, communities and the nature-based economies across the Greater Virunga region are resilient to diseases with pandemic potential.
The launch was attended by district and national officials, including Resident District Commissioners, health officers, and One Health coordinators from the ministries of Health, Agriculture, and Environment.
Dr David Muwanguzi, Principal Public Health Veterinary Officer at the Ministry of Health, and Dr Fred Monje, the One Health focal point officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, welcomed the project and pledged government support for its successful rollout.
Officials said the two-and-a-half-year project marks a major step in linking conservation and public health in one of the world’s most biodiverse yet vulnerable transboundary ecosystems.