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News

New Prosopis field handbook published

Recently, the Woody Weeds project has published its 40-page Prosopis field guide. The guide, which is aimed at a variety of stakeholders, contains accessible information about the identification of Prosopis juliflora trees, their impact on livelihoods and the environment, as well as management strategies and practices.

The information in the field guide is part based on research carried out in the Woody Weeds project and contains additional information about management strategies and practices to tackle biological invasions, including dealing with invasive plant species at different invasion stages and classical biological control.

The content of the field guide is being used to develop other information materials, such as Swahili-language flyers about prosopis identification and prosopis management.

The guide can be downloaded here.

Active cultivation

Mainstreaming Prosopis management into County Integrated Development Plans

On Friday, 3 October, a meeting was held at the headquarters of Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) to discuss how the recently signed National Prosopis Strategy can be integrated into County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs).

The 5-year CIDPs for 2023-2027 are currently in their final stage of negotiations; thus, during a visit of the representatives of the Woody Weeds + team at the Director KEFRI’s office in early February it was decided to invite County Government Ministers responsible of the Environment docket to the KEFRI headquarters to discuss how the management of the invasive tree Prosopis juliflora can be mainstreamed into the CIDP and the related budgetary processes. The meeting turned out to be a high-profile meeting, as it was also graced by the Hon. Soipan Tuya, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry. The Woody Weeds + team was represented by Simon Choge, KEFRI, Florence Chege, CABI, and Dr Boniface Kiteme, CETRAD.

After the presentation of the National Prosopis Strategy, which was – among others – built on the results generated in the Woody Weeds project and to which several members of the Woody Weeds team had contributed, Dr Kiteme presented the ongoing activities in the Woody Weeds + project, in which we support Kenyan institutions in piloting the implementation of the NPS in Baringo, Isiolo and Tana River County.

In her speech, Hon. Soipan Tuya said that the government has prioritized the management of Prosopis. The CS confirmed that proven technologies and practices to effectively manage and control Prosopis in Kenya will be scaled up and also piloted in the other most affected counties including Taita Taveta, Kajiado, Marsabit, and Turkana.

Merti women kill prosopis using fire

Women in Merti fight prosopis with fire

In August of 2022, the Woody Weeds + (WW+) team conducted a reconnaissance mission to the Merti plateau of Isiolo County, Kenya, where prosopis has invaded the landscape with destructive and devastating impacts on their livelihoods. Isiolo is one of the target Counties where WW+ is piloting implementation of Kenya’s National Prosopis Strategy, working with key institutional stakeholders as well as community groups.

This was a follow up to the first County Implementation Group (CIG) workshop held earlier in the year to develop spatially explicit prosopis management plans. Participants of this workshop prioritised Merti region for possible management interventions. During the visit the team met with the area chiefs, ward administrators, community leaders, as well as women self-help groups who are implementing sustainable land management (SLM) practices for prosopis management.

The interesting part of this visit was the way in which women have turned the heroes of the community. The women unite to reclaim important assets such as access roads and paths to sources of water. The women are organised into groups and have routines to clear prosopis. They use dry cow dung to burn prosopis trees at the base, thus killing the trees, which results in lasting removal. Naturally regenerating species should be promoted to replace prosopis, in addition to enrichment planting. The women have empowered themselves as the local heroes and are only motivated by the fact that they will restore their landscape, one prosopis tree at a time.

This meeting came just at the opportune time as the area was prioritised during the first CIG workshop and has been selected for a WW+ demonstration site for SLM practices that target prosopis. There is a need to build capacity of the women groups to further empower their efforts in implementing the SLM practice. We will develop, together with the women groups, an action plan to offer technical support on implementing the SLM, which will result in expansion of the area cleared of prosopis coupled with restoration activities.

Ruko conservancy continues removing prosopis

A Woody Weeds team visited Ruko Conservancy this week and received an update from the conservancy manager and current Board members about the activities with regards to prosopis management. Despite a number of challenges to the communities that are unrelated to prosopis, the Board remains committed to implementing the agreed plan to remove prosopis from the area.

We visited areas newly invaded by prosopis, where board members and rangers uprooted prosopis seedlings using a Treepopper. Using this tool to remove the small trees is much easier than digging using a hoe or machete, and is particularly if it has recently rained.

In addition to tools that were already donated last year to aid the management efforts, Woody Weeds will lend five Treepoppers to the conservancy to facilitate prosopis management. These five tools are hosted by KEFRI in Marigat and will also be available to other communities in the area.

Stakeholders visit prosopis invasion

Darwin project supports prosopis management in Lake Natron basin

Early September we started activities of our new Darwin Initiative funded project in the Lake Natron Basin in northern Tanzania. The project supports stakeholders from the national to the local level to implement the National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan (NISSAP), with special focus on Prosopis juliflora in the region stretching from the Kenyan border to Lake Manyara.

As part of two workshops to develop a draft spatial management plan for the Lake Natron basin, we visited the area heavily invaded by prosopis where we have worked before as part of the Woody Weeds project. Participants from the Lake Natron basin, where the invasions are just starting, got an opportunity to observe first hand the devastating effects of of dense invasions.

Seeing and hearing from local community members about the impacts made the participants recognise the urgency to prevent the spread of the species into their grazing lands and wildlife areas, and manage the relatively few trees that have already established.

This visit made the pastoralist community members realise how important it is to prevent invasions in pasturelands, since managing invasions in grazing lands is much more challenging than in agricultural fields that are continuously cultivated. Increasingly, biological control is equally generating interesting discussions and the communities are open to introduction of the agents as a safer option.

First workshops to develop prosopis management plans in Tana River and Isiolo Counties

Between 5 and 13 April 2022, we ran first workshops with County Implementation Groups (CIGs) in Tana River and Isiolo Counties to promote and support the implementation of the Kenyan National Prosopis Strategy (NPS). These counties are both heavily invaded by Prosopis juliflora. The main goal of the workshops was to engage the CIGs in drafting provisional maps on which prosopis management objectives and preferred management practices are assigned to different areas of the County, depending on the current level of prosopis invasion or, in case an area has not yet been invaded, the likelihood of an imminent invasion.

During the workshop, representatives from different stakeholder groups, including County government, NGOs, Community-Based Organisations, Natural Resource Management Organisations and land users assessed the accuracy of the modelled map of the current distribution of prosopis in their County. They then added assets (e.g. dry season grazing areas) and threats (livestock migration routes) to the maps and jointly reflected on in which areas of the County prosopis invasion should be prevented, which invaded areas should be cleared from prosopis and in which areas prosopis invasion should be contained and assets protected.

Workshop participants were informed about the practices available for prosopis management and which practice can be applied at what stage of invasion and at what cost.

In a next step, the provisional maps produced during the workshops will be discussed with representatives from local communities across the counties to discuss the feasibility of implementing the suggested management practices. The feedback by the community representatives will be taken into account when the CIGs will revise the prosopis management maps and the set of recommended management practices during a second workshop later in the year.

Four more Woody Weeds students graduate

Last week, four postgraduate students who were supported by the Woody Weeds project have successfully defended their thesis and graduated from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. Congratulations to Omega Kaaya, Eliengerasia Koka, Barnabas Malila and Dr Amina Hamad!


Dr Amina, Malila, Omega and Koka at the graduation ceremony

First workshop to support Kenyan National Prosopis Strategy

Last week we ran a workshop to support implementation of the Kenyan National Prosopis Strategy (NPS) in Baringo County. We focus this initial step in implementation of the NPS on Baringo, as this is where prosopis has become very invasive and we have previously worked with a Local Implementation Group of stakeholders from the most invaded area around Lake Baringo.

During the workshop, stakeholders from across Baringo County, now convened as the County Implementation Group, worked on a spatial land management plan to manage prosopis in a sustainable way and reflected on practices to achieve the identified management goals. The workshop participants were informed about the impacts of prosopis, based on research done in the Woody Weeds project.

Workshop participants were also informed about the best strategies to manage invasions by woody alien species, starting by preventing spread of the species to uninvaded parts of the county, and removal in sparsely invaded areas.

In groups, the participants identified parts of the county where prosopis invasion should be prevented. Suitable practices may involve monitoring the area for establishment of the species and measures to prevent introduction of seeds through livestock movement.

Other parts of the county already have sparse prosopis and here the species can still be removed; these areas were also indicated on maps. Appropriate practices may be killing of established trees followed by regular scouting for and removal of seedlings, and prevention of new introductions.

Finally, there are areas from which prosopis cannot be entirely removed and these were also mapped. Here, practices should focus on protection of assets, such as irrigation schemes and remaining grazing land, and restoration of native vegetation. Especially this latter situation with heavily invaded areas is very complex to manage, as there is privately owned and communal land across the landscape. Here, effective and sustainable management must include biological control.

The participants have now gone back home for consultation with community members and we will continue this work with them during the next workshop, which will hopefully take place in the second half of February.

Integrating invasive tree control in land management

Invasions by woody alien species threaten biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the livelihoods of affected communities. If left uncontrolled, invasive trees will continue spreading, thereby invading and degrading valuable land.

A new Woody Weeds practice brief describes how management of invasive trees needs jointly defined spatial planning and coordination of management interventions across sectors and stakeholders, particularly when communal land tenure systems are affected. This is important, because spatially explicit management of invasive trees is especially suitable and effective when it is integrated in existing or newly developed land use and management plans.

We show that community organised management of invasive trees is possible when it is done in a joint effort of all concerned stakeholders. Using two examples, one in Kenya and one in Tanzania, we further show that a spatially explicit management approach is particularly suitable to complement existing land use and management plans. Such participatory engagement of local actors in management efforts is key in enhancing ownership of management options.
The practice brief can be downloaded here.

New paper on Combatting global grassland degradation


Species-rich grasslands provide a range of benefits to biodiversity and human society.

Global grasslands are a source of biodiversity and provide a host of benefits to humans, including food production, water supply, and carbon storage. But their future looks bleak without action to halt their degradation and promote their restoration, according to the authors of a new paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. A team of international experts, led by the University of Manchester and including Urs Schaffner, CABI Switzerland, propose a series of strategies to halt the degradation of grasslands globally and promote their restoration to meet United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Using the example of the invasion of East African grasslands by the alien tree Prosopis juliflora, it illustrates how different management scenarios may help meeting the demands for ecosystem services by different stakeholder groups.

Paper reference:

Bardgett, R., Bullock, J.M., Lavorel, S. et al. (2021) Combatting global grassland degradation. Nature Reviews Earth and Environment. doi: 10.1038/s43017-021-00207-2