Buidling Capacity for Community Based Conservation of Medicinal Plants Project (BC-CBCMP) Project.

INTERIM TECHNICAL REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2006 - JULY 2006

Peris Kariuki (Project Coordinator)

project implementation

1. Constituting the Project Advisory Group

The initial activity of the BC-CBCMP project was to compose a project advisory group as per the project proposal, which was done in March 2006. The members are Patrick Maundu (Project Leader), Peris Kariuki (Project Coordinator), Dr. Phanuel Oballa (KEFRI), Ndua Chege (Department of Culture), Peris Kamau (E. A. Herbarium, instead of Stella Simiyu who has international commitments) and Staline Kibet (KENRIK).

As of 1st August 2006, three project advisory group (PAG) meetings had been held. The agenda at the first meeting (27/3/2006) was to introduce the project and develop terms of reference (TORs) for the PAG. The main agenda at the 2nd meeting (28/4/2006) was to review the applications for sub-projects and award grants. The main agenda at the 3rd meeting (14/7/2006) was to prepare terms of referenced and select persons to undertake the country reports and make preliminary arrangements for the regional workshop.

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1.2 Community sub-projects

Calls for proposals for sub-projects were made to community groups and organizations through email and word through the members of PAG. Overall, eight groups applied for grants. A decision was made to provide 3 grants but support five of the groups by combining two in Bondo (Nyandera and Miguye) and two in Mbeere (Kwamachembe and ENSOMEP). The aim was to support community groups for sub-projects in different regions and ecological and cultural backgrounds to diversify the lessons learnt.

After the selection of the groups, the initial activity was to build working relationships with the groups and other institutions at the local level, as appropriate for each grant. The three groups supported are:

a) Nyeri Traditional Health Practitioners Association (NYETPA), which has been supported to undertake work in Nyeri District in connection with development at the District Cultural Office Grounds in Nyeri Municipality in Central Kenya. The ethnic group concerned is the Kikuyu. The lessons to be learnt from this group are re-introduction of traditional medicine at the cultural centre for educational purposes and assessing the potential of growing medicinal plants for commercial purposes by herbalists on their own farms.

b) Nyandera Conservation Group and Miguye Group in Bondo District, Nyanza Province. The community is the Luo. The Nyandera group is focusing on nursery management and restoration of Nyandera Dam as a community enterprise, while the Miguye Group plans to focus on enrichment planting and in situ conservation on private land.

c) Kianjiru Conservation Groups, comprising the Kwamachembe Women's Group and Endangered Species of Kianjiru Forest (ENSOMEP). These two groups are in Eastern Province in Kenya among the Mbeere ethnic group. The focus of these two groups are enrichment planting and sustainable harvesting. Both groups aim ultimately to secure conservation of Kianjiru Forest Reserve. The Kwamachembe WG will focus on nursery development to provide plants for resources, to offset pressure on the forest, while ENSOMEP will focus on enrichment planting in the forest directly. The work of both groups will provide lessons on sustainable harvesting.

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2. Country Reports

Terms of reference were drawn up in June 2006 for preparation of reports on the state of medicinal plant conservation activities and priorities in the three East African countries. After a call, three people were chosen by the PAG during its third meeting, based on their expertise and previous experience especially in connection with the People and Plants Initiative. They were Dr John Kessy (Tanzania), Mr. Bethwell Owuor (Kenya), undertook a baseline survey on traditional medicine and medicinal plants within a project associated with the East African Medicinal Plants Network, and Ms. Asiimiwe Savina (Uganda) a recent M.Sc. graduate in Ethnobotany at Makerere University. One further person will compile a synthesis report and also the proceedings of the workshop.

3. Regional Workshop

A regional workshop is scheduled for September 28-29th 2006 in Nairobi with twenty participants expected to attend. The overall aim is to develop a regional project proposal on medicinal plant conservation. A regional strategy for 2006-2015 has already been developed by a project associated with the East African Medicinal Plants Network.

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4. Workplan for August-January 2006

Activity	Time frame
Country reports	September 2006
Regional workshop	September 2006
Sub-projects	Ongoing from April 2006 to January 2007
Backstopping & Project Advisory Group meetings	November and January 2006
Development of a regional collaborative project	October – December 2006
Final Technical and Financial Reports	January 2007

5. Constraints

Working with local communities and building a working relationship/structure took time. It was necessary to build ownership of the project at the local level to increase the chances of real impact.

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