Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Traditional Ecological Knowledge of a Riverine Forest in Turkana, Kenya: Implications for Research and Management

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study explores traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Turkana pastoralists and cultivators in the context of a riverine forest in northern Kenya. The Turkwel River and its floodplain sustain a thick forest, which is used for grazing and extraction of non-timber forest products. However, sedentarisation and agricultural expansion have resulted in localised clear-felling of trees, while river damming has altered the natural flow regime. A series of structured, semi-structured, and group interviews were combined with a botanical inventory in order to assess the relevance of TEK to ecological research and forest conservation. Turkana informants gave 102 vernacular names for the 113 woody species. Of these, 85% had a domestic or pastoral use among the 105 specific uses that were described. Ethnobotanical knowledge was relatively homogenous and not related to age, gender, or source of livelihood. The informants had in-depth knowledge of some key ecological processes. The conceived threats to forest survival were primarily cultivation and permanent settlements, while the effects of river damming and livestock grazing were disputed. A claimed decline in rainfall was confirmed by official data. There is strong evidence that TEK could be used to generate hypotheses for research and to design sustainable conservation strategies. A revised version of the indigenous system of tree management should be incorporated into the official forestry policy in order to resolve future conflicts between pastoralists and cultivators.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams WM (1989) Dam construction and the degradation of floodplain forest on the Turkwel River, Kenya. Land Degrad Rehabil 1:189–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agnew ADQ, Agnew S (1994) Upland Kenya wild flowers: a flora of the ferns and herbaceous flowering plants of upland kenya. East Africa Natural History Society, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal A, Gibson CC (1999) Enchantment and disenchantment: the role of community in natural resource conservation. Land Degrad Rehabil 27:629–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allison EH, Badjeck M-C (2004) Livelihoods, local knowledge and the integration of economic development and conservation concerns in the Lower Tana River Basin. Hydrobiologia 527:19–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attwell CAM, Cotterill FPD (2000) Postmodernism and African conservation science. Biodivers Conserv 9:559–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin MP (1990) Community theory and competition in vegetation. In: Grace JB, Tilman D (eds) Perspectives on plant competition. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp 215–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrow EGC (1990) Usufruct rights to trees: the role of ekwar in dryland central Turkana, Kenya. Hum Ecol 18:163–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrow ECG (1993) Evaluating the effectiveness of participatory agroforestry extension programmes in a pastoral system, based on existing traditional values. Agrofor Syst 14:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beentje H (1994) Kenya trees, shrubs and lianas. National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F (2004) Rethinking community-based conservation. Conserv Biol 18: 621–630

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bollig M, Schulte A (1999) Environmental change and pastoral perceptions: degradation and indigenous knowledge in two African pastoral communities. Hum Ecol 27:493–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown K (2003) Three challenges for a real people-centred conservation. Global Ecol Biogeogr 12:89–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalle SP, Potvin C (2004) Conservation of useful plants: an evaluation of local priorities from two indigenous communities in eastern Panama. Econ Bot 58:38–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donovan DG, Puri RK (2004) Learning from traditional knowledge of non-timber forest products: Penan Benalui and the autecology of Aquilaria in Indonesian Borneo. Ecol Soc 9:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford J, Martinez D (2000) Traditional ecological knowledge, ecosystem science, and environmental management. Ecol Appl 10:1249–1250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes FMR (1984) A comment on the impact of development schemes on the floodplain forests of the Tana River of Kenya. Geogr J 150:230–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes FMR (1987) Conflicting uses for forest resources in the Lower Tana River basin of Kenya. In: Anderson D, Grove R (eds) Conservation in Africa: people, policies and practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 211–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes FMR (1988) The ecology of African floodplain forests in semi-arid and arid zones: a review. J␣Biogeogr 15:127–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen M, Lykke AM (2003) Informant-based valuation of use and conservation preferences of savanna trees in Burkina Faso. Econ Bot 57:203–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luoga EJ, Witkowski ETF, Balkwill K (2000) Differential utilization and ethnobotany of trees in Kitulanghalo Forest Reserve and surrounding communal lands, eastern Tanzania. Econ Bot 54:328–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykke AM, Kristensen MK, Ganaba S (2004) Valuation of local use and dynamics of 56 woody species in the Sahel. Biodivers Conserv 13:1961–1990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCullagh P, Nelder JA (1989) Generalized linear models. Chapman & Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Medley KE (1993) Extractive forest resources of the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya. Econ Bot 47:171–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan WTW (1974) Sorghum gardens in south Turkana: cultivation among a nomadic pastoral people. Geogr J 140: 80–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan WTW (1981) Ethnobotany of the Turkana: use of plants by a pastoral people and their livestock in Kenya. Econ Bot 35:96–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Oba G, Stenseth NC, Weladji RB (2002) Impacts of shifting agriculture on a floodplain woodland regeneration in dryland Kenya. Agric Ecosyst Environ 90:211–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips O, Gentry AH (1993) The useful plants of Tambopata, Peru: II. Additional hypothesis testing in quantitative ethnobotany. Econ Bot 47:33–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid RS, Ellis JE (1995) Impacts of pastoralists on woodlands in south Turkana, Kenya: livestock-mediated tree recruitment. Ecol Appl 5:978–992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I (1991) Wetlands in drylands: key resources for agricultural and pastoral production in Africa. Ambio 20:366–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheil D, Lawrence A (2004) Tropical biologists, local people and conservation: new opportunities for collaboration. Trends Ecol Evol 19:634–638

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sillitoe P, Bicker A, Pottier J (2002) Participating in development: approaches to indigenous knowledge. American Society of Anthropologists Monographs No. 39, Routledge, London

  • Stave J, Oba G, Stenseth NC (2001) Temporal changes in woody-plant use and the ekwar indigenous tree management system along the Turkwel River, Kenya. Environ Conserv 28:150–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stave J, Oba G, Stenseth NC, Nordal I (2005) Environmental gradients in the Turkwel riverine forest, Kenya: hypotheses on dam-induced vegetation change. For Ecol Manage 212:184–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terer T, Ndiritu GG, Gichuki NN (2004) Socio-economic values and traditional strategies of managing wetland resources in Lower Tana River, Kenya. Hydrobiologia 527:3–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DHL (1996) Dam construction and ecological change in the riparian forest of the Hadejia-Jama’ are floodplain, Nigeria. Land Degrad Dev 7:279–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tockner K, Stanford JA (2002) Riverine flood plains: present state and future trends. Environ Conserv 29:308–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Bremen H, Kinyanjui HCK (1992) Soils of the Lodwar area: an inventory of soils, an evaluation of present land use and recommendation for future land use. Reconnaissance Soil Survey Report No. R17, Kenya Soil Survey, Nairobi

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Research Council of Norway (Project No. 148773/730) and research permission was granted by the Government of Kenya (MOEST 13/001/32C 279). We are highly indebted to all the field assistants, informants and respondents for their kind participation. Special thanks go to Boaz Ekiru, Charles Ekal, and Philip Esimit for their enthusiasm in the field, and to Geoffrey Mungai for helping us with the species identification. Emily Wabuyele, Charlotte Sletten Bjorå, Tesfaye Awas, Ingrid Nesheim, Hassan Guyo Roba, and Marit Ruge Bjærke gave valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jørn Stave

    Present address: The Development Fund, Grensen 9 B, N-0159, Oslo, Norway

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1050, Blindern, N-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Jørn Stave & Nils Chr Stenseth

  2. Noragric, Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, N-1432, Ås, Norway

    Gufu Oba

  3. Department of Biology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, N-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Inger Nordal

Authors
  1. Jørn Stave
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gufu Oba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Inger Nordal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nils Chr Stenseth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jørn Stave.

Appendix

Appendix

List of woody plant uses in the Turkwel riverine forest. Some uses involve several species and different plant parts. Use categories correspond to Table 1

C: Traditional fence

C: Live fence

C: Livestock enclosures

C: Poles

C: Thatching

C: Posts

C: Withies

E: Firewood

E: Charcoal

F: Raw fruit eaten

F: Cooked fruits eaten

F: Leaves as vegetables

F: Gums

B: Browse/fodder for livestock

V: Remedy for malaria

V: Remedy for lung problems in livestock

V: Remedy for stomach disorders in livestock

V: Remedy for backache

V: Remedy for whooping cough

V: Headache remedy

V: Wound treatment

V: Remedy for diarrhoea

V: To encourage vomiting

V: Remedy for chest problems

V: Remedy for insect bites

V: Remedy for itching mites

V: Remedy for elephantiasis

V: Remedy for yellow fever

V: Remedy for constipation

V: Remedy for toothache

V: Remedy for menstruation pains

V: To improve fertility

V: Medicine given to pregnant and labouring women

V: Remedy for leg pains

V: Remedy for meningitis

V: Remedy for pancreatic problems

V: Remedy for skin disease

V: Remedy for heart pains

V: Remedy for tapeworm infection

V: Remedy for alimentary canal disorder in camels

V: For expulsion of camel’s placenta

V: Remedy for urinary bladder problems in livestock

V: Remedy for cholera

V: Eardrops

V: Remedy for eye infections in livestock

V: Remedy for eye infections

V: Remedy for boils

V: Remedy for measles

V: Remedy for snakebites

V: Remedy for mouth infections

U: Stools

U: Bow and arrows

U: Brooms

U: Tablemats

U: Sleeping mats

U: Walking sticks

U: Baskets

U: Cooking/stirring sticks

U: Bowls

U: Ropes and straps

U: Spoons

U: Water containers

U: Milk containers

U: Oil containers

U: Carriers for donkeys

U: Axe handles

U: Trays

U: Hats

U: Ear pins

U: Furniture

R: Protection against evil crossings

R: Used in birth rituals

R: Roots carried for protection against evil crossings

R: Used in rituals by the witchdoctor

R: Shade to provide for initiation ritual

R: Shade to suppress the presence of evil

R: Firewood to be used after childbirth

R: Used in sacrificial meals

R: A tree under which the placenta is buried

R: Stick used in sacrificial slaughter

R: Protection of sick people against evil by moving four times around a tree

R: Bark rope for tying the umbilical cord

R: Leaf sap smeared on warriors’ faces

M: Shade

M: Substitute for tealeaves

M: Flowers used for scent and decoration

M: Toothbrush

M: Fire production

M: Smoke used for giving nice scent to wooden utensils

M: Henna for decoration

M: Ropes for tying umbilical cord on newborn babies

M: Ornamental beads

M: Hair colour for old men

M: Fruits fermented for local brew

M: Bark used in local brew

M: Beehives

M: Head ornament

M: Dyes

M: Roots and twigs worn as charm

M: Bark and branches used for making flutes

M: Resin used as glue

M: Solidifying milk

M: Flavouring of tobacco

M: Substitute for mosquito coil

M: Substitute for sand paper

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stave, J., Oba, G., Nordal, I. et al. Traditional Ecological Knowledge of a Riverine Forest in Turkana, Kenya: Implications for Research and Management. Biodivers Conserv 16, 1471–1489 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-006-9016-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-006-9016-y

Key words

Search

Navigation