Seed Collection continues in the Coastal Forests

On 11th March, 2021- 13th March, 2021 our botanists conducted a seed collection exercise accompanied by staff from National Museums of Kenya in three coastal forests: Kaya Kauma, Kaya Ribe and Kaya Fungo. These forests are protected by the National Museums of Kenya, Coastal Forests Conservation Unit (NMK- CFCU) and are recognised as world heritage sites. The forests are centres of endemism and are under threat of degradation because of their richness in minerals. Kaya Kauma for example is to be 'moved' to give room for limestone mining. This threatens the biodiversity of this forest which has been preserved for decades by the communities using cultural practices. The seed collection gives us a chance to conserve species found in these forests ex-situ.

Our botanists were able to collect seeds from about 40 different tree species and also collected soil samples for mycorrhizal purposes.

Propagation of these seeds has since commenced with some having pretty high germination rates. For example, Afzelia quanzensis (Pod mahogany) had 100% germination success. Since we still don’t have propagation beds, we are reusing plastic bottles and cement bags as potting material for the seeds. So far, the progress is good.