MEDICINAL
PLANTS: THE ROLE OF THE KENYA FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
(KEFRI),PLANTS FOR LIFE PROJECTS IN CONSERVATION, MANAGEMENT AND
DEVELOPMENT
Francis N.M. Gachathi
Kenya Forestry Research Institute
P.O. Box 20142
NAIROBI - KENYA
Tel: 0154 - 32891/2/3
Fax: 0154 - 32844
kefri@arcc.or.ke
SUMMARY
Traditional herbal medicine in Kenya is a significant component of accessible, affordable and sustainable health care particularly for the rural people and depend entirely on commonly found indigenous plants. Unfortunately the natural vegetation is threatened by the rapid increase in human population and most plants with medicinal value are quickly disappearing. Concerted efforts are therefore required to conserve medicinal plants for sustainable use. In particular the resource users (herbalists) should be encouraged and assisted to establish their own herbal gardens/groves in their homes. This paper presents an overview of the status of ongoing activities aimed at conservation of medicinal plants at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Plants for Life Project. It presents a case of mutual collaboration between 14 local herbalists and the plants for Life Project in information gathering and conservation of medicinal plants through establishment of herbal groves in their homes.
INTRODUCTION
Medicinal Plants play a significant role towards the well being and health status of many Kenyans particularly in the rural areas. The knowledge and use of plants to treat primary and complex ailments is an integrated aspect of African culture and tradition. This has been the condition for survival. Herbal therapy is practical, simple and a socially acceptable method based on indigenous knowledge. Its social acceptance is based on ease of accessibility to individuals and families in the community through their local herbalists, at a cost they can afford.
There are areas where herbal medicine is the major and in some cases the only source of health care available. The resources required to provide modern health care services (personnel, drugs, equipment, facilities etc.) are not always available or are inadequate in terms of quality and quantity. In an age when toxic drugs are increasingly unwelcome, herbal medicine with its indisputable nutrition i.e. the proteins and vitamins that the plant may contain thereby nourishing as well as providing health to the body could therefore be a real alternative to conventional medicine. Thus if properly developed, herbal medicine could be used to supplement primary health care needs, promoting a spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. In addition, it would serve to increase the level of community participation in the provision of sustainable primary health care system.
In recent years, herbal medicine has become increasingly popular in a "back - to - nature" movement. Consequently herbal therapy has become a lucrative business. We are witnessing mushrooming herbal clinics in both rural and urban centres not only for the local herbalists but foreigners as well. The survival of these clinics depend entirely on the availability of medicinal plants. However, despite the upsurge, there remains a fundamental lack of conservation of medicinal plants which makes continued utilization of these natural resource base quite uncertain. These pose a big danger to traditional herbal medicine and its practice in Kenya.
Threats to Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plants are threatened by escalating deforestation resulting from pressures of a rapidly growing human population coupled with destructive harvesting methods which involve extraction of the whole plant, harvesting all roots and ring - barking leading to eventual death of the plant. As a result popular plant species especially trees and shrubs with medicinal properties are threatened by extinction (Table1). Forests are cut down to clear land for the establishment of plantations largely of exotic species, "development" projects or more often for agricultural purposes. In addition, illegal felling of indigenous species for timber, charcoal, poles etc., continue despite the national ban since the mid - 1980s. The demand for plant products and land for settlement and farming has resulted in loss of forestland at a rate of 5000 ha per annum (KIFCON 1994).
The major factor linked with destructive harvesting of medicinal plants is land tenure. A large proportion of medicinal plants is gathered from Forest Resources which are state land, gazetted under the forest Act and managed by the Forest Department (FD) and/or the Kenya Wildlife Service on behalf of the state (Waas, 1995). As such, people responsible for gathering medicinal plants do not own the land from where they collect these resources neither are they responsible for the management. Without a vested interest they are unlikely to adopt any long-term perspective.
Trade in medicinal plants is also putting pressure on the resources leading to over exploitation of the local populations. This is particularly worse when the required parts are bark or roots for the trees and shrubs or the whole plant for the plants. The collection of Aloes in Kenya is already prohibited as a result of wanton destruction in the 1980s. Currently Prunus africana is being heavily exploited for its bark which is being exported to Europe.
Much of the ethno botanical knowledge and skills on use of plants is unfortunately being lost through changes in life style and disintegration of cultures. Scarcity of medicinal plants and loss of ethno botanical knowledge result in marketing of substitute, adulterated as well as fake products, undermining the health reputation of the entire herbal therapy system. Tablel 1
Some Overexploited Forest Dependent Medicinal Trees and Shrubs
Species name ;Forest type ; Parts used
Warburgia ugandensis ;dry upland; bark leaves, fruits
Warburgia stuhlmani;coastal evergreen ;bark, fruits
Zanthoxylum gilletti; wet montane ; bark, fruits
Elaedendron bachananii ;dry upland, raverine bark
Olinia rochetiana ; dry upland, hilltop ; bark, roots
Pittosporum viridiflorum ;dry upland, raverine ;bark
Trimeria grandifolia ;dry upland, raverine;roots
Harungana madagascariensis;moist; roots, bark
Vismia orientalis;coastal lowland;roots
Bridelia micrantha;raverine;roots, bark
Croton macrostachys;moist;roots, leaves
Prunus africana; moist;bark
Hagenia abyssinica;montane bark, flowers
Rhammus staddo;dry upland,roots
Taddalia asiatica;dry upland roots, fruits
Matenus undata;moist upland bark
Pappea capensis;dry upland, riverine bark, roots
Lannea fulva;dry upland, raverine bark
Ozoroa insignis;hilltop, raverine root, bark
Pistacia aethiopica; dry upland, hilltop root, bark
Embelia schimperi; upland evergreen roots, seeds
Maesa lanceolata; upland moist roots, seeds
Rapanea melanophloeos; dry upland, hilltop roots, bark fruits
Strychno henningsti;dry upland, hilltop stems
The role of KEFRI in Medicinal Plant Conservation and Development
Kenya Forestry Research institute (KEFRI) was established in June 1986, to undertake forestry research and development on behalf of the government. It has a clear mission to carry out user oriented multidisciplinary research to generate technologies and disseminate them to enhance development, management and conservation of forests, trees and allied resources in order to contribute to improving the welfare of the people of Kenya (KEFRI 1989). KEFRI's research and development activities are implemented through four core research programmes viz. Farm Forestry, Natural Forests, Dry land Forestry and Forest Plantations.
Falling under the Dry land Forestry Programme is Non-Wood Forest Product (NWFPs) sub-programme whose priority research areas include gathering information to improve utilization of Non-wood forest resources as well as documenting the indigenous knowledge (IK) attached to them. These resources include food plants, gums and resins, tans and dyes, essential oils, fibres and medicinal extracts. This products represent renewable resources that could be sustainably exploited for profit and still conserve most of the biological diversity and ecosystem functions of the forests (FAO, 1995). Medicinal and wild food plants are important non-wood forest products in improving food security and health conditions for the people.
In 1990 a project was initiated under the Non-wood Forest Products Sub-programme for the purpose of conducting field research on nutritional (fruits, vegetables etc.) and medicinal plants in relation to their status and conservation perspectives. Dealing with food and medicinal plants, the essence of life, the projects was named Plants for Life. Its objectives are gathering information that would improve conservation, sustainable utilization and development of these resources.
To promote the results of it objectives, Plants for Life has initiated several extension and promotional activities. These involve setting up demonstration botanic gardens on the farms of selected model Traditional Medical Practitioners (TMPs), supplying seeds and seedlings of medicinal and nutritional (fruits) plants to herbalists and small scale farmers and assisting them to start their own medicinal plants groves. Local communities are thus directly involved in Plants for Life database, first as sources of information on medicinal and nutritional resources and later as conservators and promoters of the same in their communities.
The Plants for Life Project undertakes the following activities:
1. Ethno botanical surveys in order to reveal medicinal and nutritional plants used by the local communities, mode of harvesting and any other relevant information.
2. Scientific identification and classification of medicinal and nutritional plants accompanied by a preserved herbarium voucher specimen.
3. Raise seedlings of the popular and more frequently used species and develop suitable propagation techniques for the rare and difficult ones.
4. Establish a demonstration botanical herbal garden at KEFRI headquarters, Muguga and plant groves at different ecological zones (Gede, Ramogi, Kibwezi, Kitui).
5. Supply seedlings and seeds and nursery equipment to selected Traditional Medical Practitioners/Herbalists and interested small scale farmers and assist them establish their own herbal gardens/groves on their own farms.
6. Build up a data base with the necessary basic information required for conservation, sustainable use and management of medicinal and nutritional plants.
Achievements
Systematic ethnobotanical surveys on the indigenous medicinal and food plants has been conducted in Siaya, Kitui and Kajiado Districts. Hot spot surveys to capture important information has also been conducted in South Nyanza, Machakos, Kakamega, Isiolo and Baringo Districts. At the present stage, the Plants for Life database has documented information on 960 medicinal and nutritional species.
A total of 14 Traditional Medical Practitioners and interested small scale farmers collaborating with the Plant for Life have benefited from the Project by establishing their own medicinal plant groves in their farms (Table 2).
CONCLUSIONS
The future of herbal medicine and its practice in Kenya will depend on successful introduction of medicinal plants into the prevailing agriculture and agro forestry systems. To save medicinal plants for sustainable use, non-destructive harvesting methods should be devised. In particular research should be directed at the efficacy of leaves or fruits in cases where roots and barks are used. Trade on medicinal plants should always be subjected to a permit for specified variable quantities.
REFERENCES
FAO, 1995. Non - Wood Forest Products for rural income and sustainable forestry. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
KEFRI, 1989. KEFRI Strategic Plan 1989 - 2000. Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Nairobi.
KIFCON, 1994. A National Profile of Kenya's Indigenous Forest, Kenya Indigenous Forest Conservation Program, Karura Forest Station, Nairobi.
Waas, P. Ed, 1995. Kenya's Indigenous Forests: Status Management and Conservation. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Francis N.M. Gachathi
Kenya Forestry Research Institute
P.O. Box 20142
NAIROBI - KENYA
Tel: 0154 - 32891/2/3
Fax: 0154 - 32844
kefri@arcc.or.ke
SUMMARY
Traditional herbal medicine in Kenya is a significant component of accessible, affordable and sustainable health care particularly for the rural people and depend entirely on commonly found indigenous plants. Unfortunately the natural vegetation is threatened by the rapid increase in human population and most plants with medicinal value are quickly disappearing. Concerted efforts are therefore required to conserve medicinal plants for sustainable use. In particular the resource users (herbalists) should be encouraged and assisted to establish their own herbal gardens/groves in their homes. This paper presents an overview of the status of ongoing activities aimed at conservation of medicinal plants at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Plants for Life Project. It presents a case of mutual collaboration between 14 local herbalists and the plants for Life Project in information gathering and conservation of medicinal plants through establishment of herbal groves in their homes.
INTRODUCTION
Medicinal Plants play a significant role towards the well being and health status of many Kenyans particularly in the rural areas. The knowledge and use of plants to treat primary and complex ailments is an integrated aspect of African culture and tradition. This has been the condition for survival. Herbal therapy is practical, simple and a socially acceptable method based on indigenous knowledge. Its social acceptance is based on ease of accessibility to individuals and families in the community through their local herbalists, at a cost they can afford.
There are areas where herbal medicine is the major and in some cases the only source of health care available. The resources required to provide modern health care services (personnel, drugs, equipment, facilities etc.) are not always available or are inadequate in terms of quality and quantity. In an age when toxic drugs are increasingly unwelcome, herbal medicine with its indisputable nutrition i.e. the proteins and vitamins that the plant may contain thereby nourishing as well as providing health to the body could therefore be a real alternative to conventional medicine. Thus if properly developed, herbal medicine could be used to supplement primary health care needs, promoting a spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. In addition, it would serve to increase the level of community participation in the provision of sustainable primary health care system.
In recent years, herbal medicine has become increasingly popular in a "back - to - nature" movement. Consequently herbal therapy has become a lucrative business. We are witnessing mushrooming herbal clinics in both rural and urban centres not only for the local herbalists but foreigners as well. The survival of these clinics depend entirely on the availability of medicinal plants. However, despite the upsurge, there remains a fundamental lack of conservation of medicinal plants which makes continued utilization of these natural resource base quite uncertain. These pose a big danger to traditional herbal medicine and its practice in Kenya.
Threats to Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plants are threatened by escalating deforestation resulting from pressures of a rapidly growing human population coupled with destructive harvesting methods which involve extraction of the whole plant, harvesting all roots and ring - barking leading to eventual death of the plant. As a result popular plant species especially trees and shrubs with medicinal properties are threatened by extinction (Table1). Forests are cut down to clear land for the establishment of plantations largely of exotic species, "development" projects or more often for agricultural purposes. In addition, illegal felling of indigenous species for timber, charcoal, poles etc., continue despite the national ban since the mid - 1980s. The demand for plant products and land for settlement and farming has resulted in loss of forestland at a rate of 5000 ha per annum (KIFCON 1994).
The major factor linked with destructive harvesting of medicinal plants is land tenure. A large proportion of medicinal plants is gathered from Forest Resources which are state land, gazetted under the forest Act and managed by the Forest Department (FD) and/or the Kenya Wildlife Service on behalf of the state (Waas, 1995). As such, people responsible for gathering medicinal plants do not own the land from where they collect these resources neither are they responsible for the management. Without a vested interest they are unlikely to adopt any long-term perspective.
Trade in medicinal plants is also putting pressure on the resources leading to over exploitation of the local populations. This is particularly worse when the required parts are bark or roots for the trees and shrubs or the whole plant for the plants. The collection of Aloes in Kenya is already prohibited as a result of wanton destruction in the 1980s. Currently Prunus africana is being heavily exploited for its bark which is being exported to Europe.
Much of the ethno botanical knowledge and skills on use of plants is unfortunately being lost through changes in life style and disintegration of cultures. Scarcity of medicinal plants and loss of ethno botanical knowledge result in marketing of substitute, adulterated as well as fake products, undermining the health reputation of the entire herbal therapy system. Tablel 1
Some Overexploited Forest Dependent Medicinal Trees and Shrubs
Species name ;Forest type ; Parts used
Warburgia ugandensis ;dry upland; bark leaves, fruits
Warburgia stuhlmani;coastal evergreen ;bark, fruits
Zanthoxylum gilletti; wet montane ; bark, fruits
Elaedendron bachananii ;dry upland, raverine bark
Olinia rochetiana ; dry upland, hilltop ; bark, roots
Pittosporum viridiflorum ;dry upland, raverine ;bark
Trimeria grandifolia ;dry upland, raverine;roots
Harungana madagascariensis;moist; roots, bark
Vismia orientalis;coastal lowland;roots
Bridelia micrantha;raverine;roots, bark
Croton macrostachys;moist;roots, leaves
Prunus africana; moist;bark
Hagenia abyssinica;montane bark, flowers
Rhammus staddo;dry upland,roots
Taddalia asiatica;dry upland roots, fruits
Matenus undata;moist upland bark
Pappea capensis;dry upland, riverine bark, roots
Lannea fulva;dry upland, raverine bark
Ozoroa insignis;hilltop, raverine root, bark
Pistacia aethiopica; dry upland, hilltop root, bark
Embelia schimperi; upland evergreen roots, seeds
Maesa lanceolata; upland moist roots, seeds
Rapanea melanophloeos; dry upland, hilltop roots, bark fruits
Strychno henningsti;dry upland, hilltop stems
The role of KEFRI in Medicinal Plant Conservation and Development
Kenya Forestry Research institute (KEFRI) was established in June 1986, to undertake forestry research and development on behalf of the government. It has a clear mission to carry out user oriented multidisciplinary research to generate technologies and disseminate them to enhance development, management and conservation of forests, trees and allied resources in order to contribute to improving the welfare of the people of Kenya (KEFRI 1989). KEFRI's research and development activities are implemented through four core research programmes viz. Farm Forestry, Natural Forests, Dry land Forestry and Forest Plantations.
Falling under the Dry land Forestry Programme is Non-Wood Forest Product (NWFPs) sub-programme whose priority research areas include gathering information to improve utilization of Non-wood forest resources as well as documenting the indigenous knowledge (IK) attached to them. These resources include food plants, gums and resins, tans and dyes, essential oils, fibres and medicinal extracts. This products represent renewable resources that could be sustainably exploited for profit and still conserve most of the biological diversity and ecosystem functions of the forests (FAO, 1995). Medicinal and wild food plants are important non-wood forest products in improving food security and health conditions for the people.
In 1990 a project was initiated under the Non-wood Forest Products Sub-programme for the purpose of conducting field research on nutritional (fruits, vegetables etc.) and medicinal plants in relation to their status and conservation perspectives. Dealing with food and medicinal plants, the essence of life, the projects was named Plants for Life. Its objectives are gathering information that would improve conservation, sustainable utilization and development of these resources.
To promote the results of it objectives, Plants for Life has initiated several extension and promotional activities. These involve setting up demonstration botanic gardens on the farms of selected model Traditional Medical Practitioners (TMPs), supplying seeds and seedlings of medicinal and nutritional (fruits) plants to herbalists and small scale farmers and assisting them to start their own medicinal plants groves. Local communities are thus directly involved in Plants for Life database, first as sources of information on medicinal and nutritional resources and later as conservators and promoters of the same in their communities.
The Plants for Life Project undertakes the following activities:
1. Ethno botanical surveys in order to reveal medicinal and nutritional plants used by the local communities, mode of harvesting and any other relevant information.
2. Scientific identification and classification of medicinal and nutritional plants accompanied by a preserved herbarium voucher specimen.
3. Raise seedlings of the popular and more frequently used species and develop suitable propagation techniques for the rare and difficult ones.
4. Establish a demonstration botanical herbal garden at KEFRI headquarters, Muguga and plant groves at different ecological zones (Gede, Ramogi, Kibwezi, Kitui).
5. Supply seedlings and seeds and nursery equipment to selected Traditional Medical Practitioners/Herbalists and interested small scale farmers and assist them establish their own herbal gardens/groves on their own farms.
6. Build up a data base with the necessary basic information required for conservation, sustainable use and management of medicinal and nutritional plants.
Achievements
Systematic ethnobotanical surveys on the indigenous medicinal and food plants has been conducted in Siaya, Kitui and Kajiado Districts. Hot spot surveys to capture important information has also been conducted in South Nyanza, Machakos, Kakamega, Isiolo and Baringo Districts. At the present stage, the Plants for Life database has documented information on 960 medicinal and nutritional species.
A total of 14 Traditional Medical Practitioners and interested small scale farmers collaborating with the Plant for Life have benefited from the Project by establishing their own medicinal plant groves in their farms (Table 2).
CONCLUSIONS
The future of herbal medicine and its practice in Kenya will depend on successful introduction of medicinal plants into the prevailing agriculture and agro forestry systems. To save medicinal plants for sustainable use, non-destructive harvesting methods should be devised. In particular research should be directed at the efficacy of leaves or fruits in cases where roots and barks are used. Trade on medicinal plants should always be subjected to a permit for specified variable quantities.
REFERENCES
FAO, 1995. Non - Wood Forest Products for rural income and sustainable forestry. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
KEFRI, 1989. KEFRI Strategic Plan 1989 - 2000. Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Nairobi.
KIFCON, 1994. A National Profile of Kenya's Indigenous Forest, Kenya Indigenous Forest Conservation Program, Karura Forest Station, Nairobi.
Waas, P. Ed, 1995. Kenya's Indigenous Forests: Status Management and Conservation. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
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