Nickson Otieno from Nairobi is the latest recipient of funding from the Young Scientists for Rainforests programme. Nickson has documented plants of medicinal value in the Kakamega forest, Kenya’s only rainforest

Kakamega is blessed with impressive natural faunal and floral richness and yet seriously threatened by an expanding human population that is steadily encroaching on it for agriculture, grazing and other natural products. It is one of Kenya's key Important Bird Areas and has several range- and biome-restricted plants and animal species. Yet it is also immensely important to neighbouring communities as a natural source of plant remedies for various illnesses.

Comprehensive information about this is lacking, existing only in disparate and scattered anecdotal field and para-medical reports. Nickson’s project sets in motion a process for comprehensive and systematic documentation of plants of medicinal value for Kakamega forest, with a view to consolidating indigenous knowledge about these. This information will be made available to the wider community around the forest itself as well as to other stakeholders, in the process of advancing the cause for the highlighting ecosystem and other socio-economic services offered by Kakamega forest for society.

If you would like to receive  the full report email your request to info@conservationfoundation.co.uk and read more in David Shreeve's Inside Environmentalist blog.