Africa
Inspiring | Protecting | Connecting
Botanic Gardens in Africa
There are many botanic gardens in Africa, ranging from old institutions set up during colonial periods, including the Entebbe Botanic Garden in Uganda, to newly established gardens such as Gullele Botanic Garden in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The gardens range in size from small community based organisations, to large world renowned conservation hubs and visitor attractions such as Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in South Africa.
BGCI has worked in Africa for many years and our programme has expanded greatly in recent years, with a strong focus on tree conservation and forest restoration. The BGCI Africa office is based at the IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya. This base provides us with the opportunity to better support our botanic garden partners across the continent and expand our programme of conservation projects.
African Botanic Garden Network (ABGN)
In collaboration with the JBF network (Jardins Botaniques de France et des pays Francophones) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), BGCI is working to revive the African Botanic Garden Network which was set up in 2002 but is largely inactive, to connect and increase capacity of botanic gardens across the continent.
The Kaya Connect Project
Kaya Connect: Restoring the Eastern Africa Coastal Forest Hotspot
Funded by the UK Government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office – Darwin Initiative.
Project start date: July 2022
Project end date: March 2025
Summary
30% of the world’s tree species are threatened. Despite global interest in reforestation, the focus is on planting in high numbers and quickly for carbon capture, so biodiversity and livelihood opportunities are missed. The Eastern Africa Coastal Forest Hotspot is heavily degraded. This project will reconnect forest fragments in coastal Kenya, benefiting people and threatened trees, by mapping forest fragments, improving seed supply, protecting and restoring sites for connectivity, providing training and jobs and securing long-term political and public support.
Project Objectives
1. Map remaining forest fragments in Kilifi County for protection and seed supply.
2. Train and give jobs to a total of 136 community members (at least 50% women and 50% youth) in seed collection, propagation, and restoration.
3. Improve native seed and seedling supply chains. 60 people (out of the 136 above) will be trained as seed monitors and collectors. 40 people (out of the 136 above) will be trained and employed in nurseries and 3 people as seed technicians.
4. Restore 180ha of degraded forest, plant trees on 1,000 homesteads and in 10 schools. 30 people (out of the 136 above) will be trained and employed as restoration site officers and 3 people as education officers.
5. Ensure sustainability and scalability of project outcomes, including by working with county government and KFS to develop a country-level tree planting policy that calls for a certain amount of native species to be planted in large-scale planting projects.
Project Leader:
Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)
Project Partners:
Kenya Forest Service (KFS)
National Museums of Kenya (NMK)
The Little Environmental Action Foundation (LEAF)
Kivukoni Indigenous Tree Nursery
Mandhari Plants & Designs/Gede Tropical Nursery
Friends of Arabuko Sokoke Forest
Our Progress:
Our work regarding Indigenous tree seedling production in Kilifi County is progressing as planned. You can see the production progress in the nurseries in this document.
More progress reports coming soon…
Other Projects
We undertake and support a huge variety projects across the African region.
You can find out more about our work via the links below:
Ongoing Projects in Africa
Useful Links & Resources
You can keep up to date with what is happening within the African Botanic Garden Network by following them on social media:
