Up Close With People & Nature

Greetings from Uganda, the pearl of Africa!

Transition Earth arrived at the start of the month to learn more about population, health and environment (PHE) projects in the country, as well as successful outreach programs on reproductive health, women’s empowerment, and conservation.

Uganda’s challenges are daunting – 4 in 10 births are unplanned, it has a young and rapidly growing population, and a high rate of forest loss - not to mention severe impacts from climate change. But it’s an exciting time to be here, and the people we’ve met give us hope that with education, access to reproductive health, clean energy and more, we can change course for the better.

Africa's Great Lakes and Beyond

Population, health and environment was one of the major themes at the African Great Lakes Conference, a recent gathering of conservationists working on a range of environmental issues in this region, which includes Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Malawi. The countries in this region of great biodiversity comprise some of the fastest-growing populations in the world.

Transition Earth, as part of the Population & Sustainable Development Alliance (PSDA), spoke with many attendees (and handed out PSDA’s “climate change” condoms!) on how population growth, reproductive rights and conservation are related. We even engaged representatives from various East African ministries of water and environment, several of whom told us they were “impressed with PHE.”

Better Late Than Never?

Dr. Doreen Othero, a highly respected Kenyan PHE expert, stated unequivocally to conservationists at the African Great Lakes Conference that conservation must address issues of population growth. A light went off for many of them when they heard this message.

Of course, as we know, when we connect population, health and environment issues, people will be empowered with healthcare, livelihoods and education, and nature will gain greater protections. Read our blog Wake Up Call to Conservationists on reactions and next steps!

Our Population, Health & Environment contingent at the African Great Lakes Conference.

Resiliency – For People and Gorillas

Perhaps no organization in Uganda demonstrates the ability to overcome the pressing challenges facing the country than Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH). We’re off this week to visit CTPH and see first-hand how they are helping to empower communities and protect nature (especially the incredible mountain gorillas) by linking conservation and health initiatives. We’ll report back via Facebook, and of course in next month’s newsletter!

Youth and Conservation – from Borneo to the Bay Area

If you missed it last month, a generous donor has helped kickstart our Youth & Conservation – from Borneo to the Bay Area project to support the ASRI Kids program in Indonesia and foster connections and further education of youth and audiences here on global challenges facing us all.

ASRI continues to support youth who are very interested in conservation, as they grow into young adults. ASRI Teens is an expansion of the ASRI Kids program. These are youth who have graduated from ASRI Kids and still want to learn more. They are dedicated to learning about the environment and volunteer with ASRI on a weekly basis after school.

For this field trip, the teens toured the hospital and learned about ASRI's incentives program, hiked in the rainforest, and learned about organic fertilizers and harvested vegetables.

Help Support Youth & Conservation - from Borneo to the Bay Area!

Til next time,
Suzanne