Conservation, Health, and Community: The Legal Lifeline Boosting Uganda’s Wetlands and Wellbeing

This impact story is part of a series to celebrate the extraordinary pro bono projects undertaken by legal teams to support NGOs and social enterprises with the support of TrustLaw. All projects mentioned in this series are nominated for this year’s TrustLaw Awards. Find out more. 

The Rushebeya-Kanyabaha Wetland in South-West Uganda is an area rich in biodiversity and a critical nesting ground for the country’s national bird, the endangered Grey Crowned Crane. In recent years, this crucial natural habitat has increasingly come under threat, including through the expansion of agricultural activity in the local area.  

The wetlands act as a natural flood barrier, without which surrounding areas are increasingly exposed to the heavy rains and floods that have become much more common due to the climate crisis. This has had a devastating impact not only on wildlife, but also on local communities, who increasingly face social and economic challenges as environmental degradation destroying their land, crops, and livelihoods, and are made more vulnerable to malnutrition and other health challenges. These pressures on local communities have also made women especially susceptible to sexual and gender-based violence, and economic hardship.  

Groundbreaking conservation  

In recognition of the complexity of these challenges, and the links between environmental, economic, social, and health outcomes, the Margaret Pyke Trust, a UK-based NGO specialising in the training of sexual and reproductive health professionals, has undertaken groundbreaking work in Uganda that combines environmental restoration efforts with training and educational programmes for communities, and support for local healthcare services.  

This innovative project has already had a transformative effect on the local environment and its surrounding communities. Agricultural productivity has more than doubled in some places, and the number of breeding pairs of Grey Crowned Cranes in the local areas has risen by 200%. In parallel, there have been remarkable improvements in health outcomes for women, helping them to plan their families and avoid unintended pregnancies.  

Scaling up with legal support  

Legal advice and support from Milbank, facilitated by Trustlaw, has helped the Margaret Pyke Trust to build on their successes, and scale up their work in Uganda. The Trust wanted to find ways of encouraging the International Crane Foundation and Rungarama Hospital, partners focusing on the environmental and health aspects of the project respectively, to work in unison on the distribution of funds. Milbank assisted the Trust with an unusual tripartite agreement with the two project partners, which not only facilitated the flow of crucial funds but also supported a partnership governance structure and coordination for the effective and impactful implementation of the project.  

This pro bono legal advice puts the Margaret Pyke Trust and its partners in a much stronger position to scale up their integrated approach to improving conservation and health outcomes in the local area. They are strengthening local communities’ and ecosystems’ resilience against climate shocks, while further improving the health and livelihoods of the 50,000 people who live around the wetlands.