Conservation and Promotion of Indigenous Plants and Trees in Meru: A preliminary survey

Abstract

The research team set out on 8 August 2007 to visit Mr. Samson Mathiu's farm at
Ntharu, Nkueni division, Mikumbune location, South Imenti, Meru district. Samson
is an active environmentalist and expert on indigenous plants. He had been identified
as a potential resource during the Memorialization & Museums Workshop facilitated
by Prof Karega-Munene and held at USIU in May 2007. As part of its outreach and
collaboration strategy, the SDIC team conducted an extensive two-day research in the
area with the assistance of Samson and his friend Francis Kirimi Inoti. A great deal of
notes were made and photographs taken on African indigenous trees and crops. The
team returned to USIU on 10 August 2007. Of great interest to the research team was
the evidence of the transit situation that exist in our rural areas moving from indigenous
to current lifestyles within three generations in the region. According to Ibui (2007),
the former were acquired over several generations and allowed the locals to use,
manage and conserve wild resources in a sustainable mode. In the teams' observation,
society's emphasis on a monetary system has seen a shift in plant value systems.

Journal of Language, Technology and Entrepreneurship in Africa Vol. 1 (1) 2007 pp. 119-125