Previous news items, including research outputs and policy briefs produced by the Woody Weeds project.
Prosopis field guide published
The guide contains accessible information about the identification of Prosopis juliflora trees, their impact and management strategies and practices. Read more …
Mainstreaming prosopis management
Kenyan stakeholders discussed discuss how the recently signed National Prosopis Strategy can be integrated into 15 County Integrated Development Plans. Read more …
Merti women fight prosopis
Self-organised women groups in Merti, Kenya, use fire to kill prosopis and take control of their landscape. WW+ will support the groups to increase their capacity. Read more …
Ruko Board uproots prosopis
During a visit of the Woody Weeds team to Ruko Conservancy, the Board confirmed their commitment to prosopis management and uprooted seedlings. Read more …
First workshops in Tanzania
Workshops of a Regional working Group and a Local Implementation Group were held in Northern Tanzania to support implementation of the NISSAP in the Lake Natron basin. Read more …
First workshops in two counties
Workshops of County Implementation Groups were held in Tana River and Isiolo Counties to support implementation of the Kenyan National Prosopis Strategy. Read more …
Four Woody Weeds students graduate
Four students who were supported by the Woody Weeds project have successfully defended their thesis and graduated from Sokoine University of Agriculture. Read more …
Support for Kenyan prosopis strategy
During a workshop, stekeholders from Baringo County learned about spatially explicit prosopis management goals and discussed practices to achieve those goals. Read more …
Integrating invasive tree control in land management
Our Practice Brief paper shows that community organised management of invasive trees is possible when done in a joint effort of all concerned stakeholders. Read more …
New paper on combatting global grassland degradation
A new paper uses Prosopis to illustrate how different management scenarios may help meeting ecosystem services demands of different stakeholders. Read more …
Continuation of Woody Weeds as Woody Weeds +
The Woody Weeds project will finish this year, but new initiatives will continue the work and use the knowledge generated by project activities. Read more …
Coordinated Prosopis management in Kenya
The new National Prosopis Strategy, to which partners of the Woody Weeds project contributed, aims to integrate different management approaches. Read more …
Prosopis reduces water resources in Ethiopia
A newly published study quantified water use by invasive Prosopis in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and concluded it severely reduces water resources. Read more …
Prosopis, grassland restoration and soil carbon
Restoration of degraded grassland can mitigate climate change impacts and restore key benefits for local communities. Read more …
Prosopis management success in South Africa
MSc student Jano Barnard uses remote sensing to study factors that can explain long-term Prosopis management success in South Africa. Read more …
Guidelines for Sustainable Use of Non-Native Trees
A new paper proposes a series of global guidelines for the sustainable use of non-native tree species to help protect biodiversity and ecosystems. Read more …
Tanzanian Task Force to Manage Invasive Species
The Tanzanian National Task Force to Manage Invasive Species, to address the threat and to find solutions to deal with invasive species, has been inaugurated. Read more …
Removing Prosopis fosters peace in Ruko
In our new video, community members explain the work and how removing Prosopis from their land together protects their future and the natural resources of the area. Read more …
Drivers of Prosopis juliflora trajectories
PhD student Beatrice Adoyo identified three main types of spatial-temporal invasion trajectories illustrating diverging success in managing Prosopis. Read more …
Impact of alien plant on native trees studied
A study by Samson Aman Samson Kiswaga found no relationship between spread of invasive plants and native tree recruitment in the Amani Botanical Garden. Read more …
Assessing factors promoting Prosopis juliflora invasion
New results of a study by Woody Weeds scientists suggest that both plasticity and rapid evolution could promote invasiveness in Prosopis juliflora. Read more …
New study calls to stop spread of woody AIS
A new publication of Woody Weeds scientists predicts widespread occurrence of Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara in Eastern Africa and beyond if no action is taken. Read more …
Unintended consequences of promoting woody IAS
Our new policy brief provides recommendations to support decision making about funding for projects that aim to introduce new, or promote established alien woody plant species. Read more …
Developing a Prosopis Strategy for Kenya
A meeting about the development of the Kenyan National Strategy for Prosopis juliflora was held in November. The Woody Weeds project will support the process. Read more …
Prosopis removal in Ruko conservancy
Rangers and community members of Ruko Conservancy in Baringo, Kenya, have started removing Prosopis in an effort to protect the area from this highly invasive tree. Read more …
Gasto Mushi defends his MSc
Gasto worked on communities’ perceptions of Lantana camara and its management in Amani, Tanzania, and presented his results at a national conference. Read more …
Trial replaces Prosopis with agriculture
A study testing another SLM practice, removal of Prosopis followed by growing food crops, has now started and is documented by two students. Read more …
Fourth PhD thesis successfully defended
We congratulate Dr Maria Loreto Castillo with the defense of her thesis about processes and drivers of Prosopis invasions in Eastern Africa. Read more …
Prosopis management facilitates peace building
The Pokot and Il Chamus communities have decided to jointly manage Prosopis juliflora to avoid invasion of RUKO conservancy in Baringo, Kenya. Read more …
Paper on ecological impacts of Prosopis
A new paper by former PhD student Theo Linders in the Journal of Ecology reveals the effects of Prosopis juliflora in Baringo, Kenya, and Afar, Ethiopia. Read more …
Hailu successfully defends his PhD
The third Phd student of the first phase of the Woody Weeds project has successfully defended his PhD. We congratulate Dr Hailu with his title Read more …
Video about Prosopis in Tanzania
In a new video, stakeholders tell about the impacts of Prosopis in Tanzania and how involvement in the LIGs leads to management decisions. Read more …
Evolution of Prosopis in Baringo
A new paper by PhD student Purity Rima Mbaabu in the journal Remote Sensing details the rapid spread of Prosopis juliflora in Baringo. Read more …
Digital storytelling in Tanzania
As part of the Digital Storytellers project we interviewed people about their involvement in LIGs and the tested sustainable land management practices. Read more …
Economic costs of Prosopis
In a new publication Woody Weeds team members describe the important and very widespread economic cost of Prosopis in Afar, Ethiopia. Read more …
Replacing Prosopis with grassland
Ng’ambo village in Baringo, Kenya, is one of the first to test implement Sustainable Land Management practices and restore grassland for livestock. Read more …
Another PhD student defends successfully
Theo Linders has successfully defended his PhD about the ecological impacts of Prosopis and Lantana in Eastern Africa at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Read more …
First PhD student defended sucessfully
Ketema Bekele, one of the six PhD students in the first phase of the Woody Weeds project, has defended his thesis earlier this year. Read more …
Impacts of Prosopis on livelihoods in Afar
A second paper about socio-economic impacts of Prosopis by Ketema Bekele has been published online in the journal Pastoralism. Read more …
Unexpected polyploidy levels in invasive Prosopis
Molecular analysis of Prosopis juliflora in Baringo and Afar by PhD student Maria Loreto revealed unexpected polyploidy and homogeneity. Read more …
Prosopis control treatment visible from space!
Berhanu Megersa of EIAR has treated nearly four hectares to demonstrate the effectiveness of applying herbicide treatment to kill Prosopis juliflora. Read more …
Woody Weeds participated in SESYNC Summer Institute
Five members of the Woody Weeds team went to Annapolis (USA) to participate in a training about use of cyber infrastructure in data driven research. Read more …
New paper on economic impacts of Prosopis invasions
The recent paper by Ketema Bekele about economic impacts of Prosopis spp. invasions on dryland ecosystem services in Ethiopia and Kenya is now online. Read more …
Stakeholders identify management for woody IAS in Amani
During the first Local Implementation Group workshop in Amani, Tanzania, fifteen stakeholders discussed invasive alien weeds and identified existing management practices. Read more …
One-year old invasive Prosopis flowers
PhD student Maria found that invasive Prosopis juliflora flowers at one and a half years of age, much earlier than in South America, the native range of the species. Read more …
Fifth project meeting held in Moshi
With some 35 partners and 30 stakeholders attending, the meeting was held from 22 to 29 January 2018 in Moshi, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Read more …
New PhD Students have started!
The four new students will investigate sustainable land management (SLM) options for mitigating the negative impacts of woody invasive species. Read more …
MSc opportunity in South Africa
A bursary for an MSc project about Prosopis management in the Northern Cape is available at the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University. Read more …
PhD students benefit from interdisciplinarity
In a video, PhD student Amina from Tanzania explains how working in the interdisciplinary Woody Weeds project prepares her for her future career. Read more …
Four PhD positions available!
For the second phase of the project, we are cruiting four new PhD students. More information available. Read more … (post of 6 July 2017)
Stakeholders talk about Prosopis impact in Ethiopia
In a video, people from Afar, Ethiopia, talk about the impacts of Prosopis on their livelihoods and Woody Weeds team members talk about what the project aims to do in Afar. Read more …
Prosopis in Tanzania – First INSIGHTS Brief
Prosopis has started invading in Tanzania and this INSIGHTS brief, the first in a series, provides background, management options and implications for policy. Read more …
Estimating the amount of water being consumed by Prosopis trees in Afar Region, Ethiopia
One of the PhD students in Woody Weeds Project, Mr Hailu Shiferaw, measures the amount of water consumed by Prosopis trees in the Afar Region of Ethiopia.
National strategies for managing woody weeds published
The Ethiopian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries published its “National strategy on Prosopis juliflora management” in January 2017. A proposal for a Prosopis mangement strategy for South Africa was also published.
Prosopis and Vachellia spp. mapping in Kenya
In our latest scientific publication we analyze the potential of novel high resolution satellite images to indentify, map and possibly monitor the invasive species Prosopis spp.
Stakeholders discuss Woody Weeds and effective management in Ethiopia
A Woody Weeds meeting was held in Ethiopia from 7-11 June 2016 at Adama Town in the Rift Valley. A highlight was the one-day stakeholder meeting that was attended by farmers and pastoralists from areas affected by Prosopis and Lantana.
Six PhD student projects well underway
PhD students participating in the first phase of the Woody Weeds project presented their project outlines and some initial results during the recent project meeting in Adama, Ethiopia. The six students play an important role in the woody weeds project and we were excited to learn about their progress.
Stakeholders engage with Woody Weeds in Tanzania
Important knowledge about woody invasive species and how to manage them was shared at a stakeholder engagement workshop in Tanzania at the end of November 2015. The workshop was held during a Woody Weeds project meeting in Amani Nature Reserve and local, regional and national stakeholders were invited.
Investigating the impacts of the invasive species Prosopis in Baringo, Kenya
The Baringo district northwest of Nairobi is one of the regions in Kenya where a number of mesquite species, Prosopis spp., were introduced some 40 years ago as part of poverty alleviation efforts. The trees were intended to provide, among other benefits, additional income.
Today Baringo is one of the most heavily invaded regions in eastern Africa, with severe consequences for the rural communities. As part of the kick-off meeting of the recently launched, Swiss government funded R4D (research for development) project called “Woody Weeds”, the project team visited the district, one of the case study areas in the project.