One time when I was chair of Tana Water Services Board, I had an encounter with the late Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai which helped me understand the difference between two prongs that are equally important in conservation of natural resources. My goal was to ride on her networks to mobilize resources to fund afforestation programmes in the then 12 districts around Mt Kenya that I was responsible for. I did not know then that Wangari’s philosophy in environmental conservation was that of conserving protected catchments (water towers; trees that will not be cut down for charcoal or firewood, etc). You can probably predict her response to my request. She said no. I don’t give up easily, so we had a prolonged conversation, in which she accommodated my pursuit with a lot of grace. At the end of it, I came out with a key takeaway: she had her part to play and so does a regular, non-decorated citizen. The reason cows do not go extinct is because the regular citizen benefits from them. Same reason why the kei-apple fence-tree does not.
So, as to the question how you, a regular citizen, can contribute to the conservation of natural resources my answer is that you can start from a practical approach: planting and protecting the trees that offer you huge health (or economic) benefits, and which also improve the environment. Here is a description of two:
100 g of fresh moringa oleifera leaves (about 5 cups) will offer you Vitamin A equivalent of 378 μg (47% of your daily requirement); Riboflavin, 0.660 mg (55%); Vitamin B6,1.200 mg (92%); Vitamin C (pods), 141.0 mg (170%) vs Orange – 51.1 mg. The sum of these statistics is a definition of moringa’s super immune-boosting powers. Maintaining a healthy immune system is essential for helping our bodies stave off infections and illnesses. Good thing with moringa, it grows best in the hotter areas, including semi-arid areas.
If you are a man and are over 40, or if you have a husband of that description, pay close attention:
There are three most common forms of prostate disease: inflammation (prostatitis), a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH) and prostate cancer. Most men, if they live long-enough, may experience one or more of these conditions. From early in civilisation, the bark and, more recently, leaves of the prunus africanus (pygeum, muiri, mwiria, African cherry, iron wood, red stinkwood, African plum, bitter almond, tikur inchet, mkonde-konde, entasesa, ngwabuzito, uMkakase, inyazangoma-elimnyama or umdumezulu, rooi-stinkhout) has been used all over Africa for the treatment of this, andto treat a host of other common illnesses. The pharmacology and traditional uses of the species has been reviewed by scientists extensively.
Since the 1960s, a large number of clinical trials have been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Pygeum in treating BPH, a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate that causes discomfort in older men (and is present in more than 50% of men older than age 60 years) and recurrent urinary tract infections. Some of the trademarks under which pygeum is sold in packaged forms include tadenan, bidrolar, and Pygenil. Some scientists, nevertheless argue against the effectiveness of the pygeum.
Men with an enlarged prostate are nearly perpetually dependent on remedies –either prescription drugs or natural alternatives such as the pygeum. Found at 900–3,400 m (3,000–10,000 ft) above sea level, the spread of prunus africana is wide enough for it to be available to any man who may need it, which happens to be MOST!
Whenever I mention the condition, and prunus, in my public speaking engagements, several men always follow me up with questions or confessions. My standard recommendation: go get tested, do/take what the doctor recommends until your current symptoms are eliminated, then start taking prunus as a drink (boiled bark + cinnamon, then after boiling, add honey and lemon to taste).
Haron Wachira 