2. A pocket directory of trees and seeds in Kenya.
Publ. of Kenya Energy Non-Governmental Organizations (KENGO) P.O.B. 48197, Nairobi, Kenya, Repr. 1988, 142 pp.
There was a time, not so long ago, when trees were taken for granted in Kenya. There were so many, often so thick with dense undergrowth that walking through was a hard task. Today that time has gone. Trees no longer dominate Kenya's high potential land. In areas of lower rainfall and less agricultural potential, trees are disappearing rapidly, being cut for timber, charcoal, or just to clear the land. As they become more scarce, the awareness of just how important trees are, grows.
In the recent past, seed collection and distribution had been centralized through the government's relevant ministries. This continues to be the case for certain species of timber trees, such as Cypress and Pine, to ensure the best provenance selection. These government sources are not always able to deal with the wide variety and extent of today's locally rising demand. To meet this demand, it has been found that a decentralized approach to seed collection and distribution is essential.
Advice is increasingly available f.e., that is part of the function of directories like this one.
This directory is divided into six chapters:
Chapter 1: Questions and answers
A list of questions which are normally asked about species selection and seed collection is compiled. The answers given provide some basic information about choosing which trees to grow, how to collect seeds and briefly, how trees propagate. The section also includes some general information on how to store and treat seeds before sowing.
Chapter 2: Local climate type list
The range within which a tree can be planted is determined primarily by rainfall and temperature. Rainfall and temperature zones overlap but can be differentiated into a total of 33 zones in Kenya, according to the
Agroclimatic Zone map published by the Kenya Soil Survey. For purposes of simplicity, some temperature zones have been combined in the list.
The climatic types are identified with the name of the most representative town found within that type.
Chapter 3: Climate type/tree species list
For each of the climate types, this chapter provides a list of all the trees which grow, or could grow in that area. This is only a selection of trees which may be recommended with priority. It may be possible that some of these trees will grow in areas for which they are not listed.
It is almost certain that all the trees listed under a given climate type can grow in that area, but some will perform better than others.
For this reason an asterik has been placed after those species known to grow best in this climate type which is recognized as the climate zone for these species.
Chapter 4: Individual tree species profiles
This chapter provides information about each of the recommended tree species. It contains a choice of 90 tree species; indigenous, exotical and fruit, listed in alphabetical order by botanical name. Following this, for both indigenous and exotic trees, is a brief look at their uses and even briefer description of the tree itself. The preferred climatic type of the tree is then given and, if known, the most common growing sites. Next, information about the seed is provided. This includes approximate size and weight, estimated seeding time, length of viability and best germinating techniques. Last comes the list of potential seed sources to contact if seed cannot be found in the local area.
Fruit trees, because of their importance as a food source, are listed separately. The information on fruit trees is also treated in a slightly different manner. Seeds and seedling suppliers are listed by province at the end of the section. The list of fruit trees available as seedlings from these suppliers follows the provincial listing.
Chapter 5: References and resource people
This chapter is a list of sources used for the information in this book, as well as others which could be relied upon to provide further information about growing these trees. For most of the indigenous trees information is scarce, limited generally to botanical literature. There is considerable information available about fruit trees.
Chapter 6: Information exchange
This chapter gives information where to go, or whom to ask for answers.
The idea is to help spread knowledge around and this chapter suggests how to do it.
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