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All About Trees; A Day In The Life Of A Carbon Sampler
By Jane Okoth Do you know how the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project generates its carbon credits? Essential to the process is Wildlife Works’ Carbon Sampling Department, who play a vital role in calculating the amount of carbon stocks that are stored in the forest across the project area. This week, we are profiling Joshua Kitiro, the Head of the Carbon Sampling team, a department comprising of eight team members. “Carbon sampling is about measuring trees to calculate the amount of carbon stored in them. Different trees have different amount of carbon in them depending on their species, structure, and age,” he says. The team works with Jeremy Freund, the Vice…
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The Jojoba Project: Cosmetic and beauty plants benefit rural communities
If you check the ingredient label on your favorite shampoo, lotion or lipstick, it’s very likely you’ll see jojoba listed. The oil pressed from the seeds of this shrub can be used “as is” to soften hair and skin, or can be mixed into different cosmetics as an added moisturizer. Jojoba oil is unique in that it is chemically a liquid wax, not a triglyceride, making it more similar to the natural oil on human skin (sebum) than traditional vegetable oils. Jojoba shrubs are hardy and can survive in arid climates and rangelands. Plantations of jojoba have been established in a number of desert and semi-desert lands including Argentina, Australia,…
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Going green: Purchasing and planting tree seedlings in Kenya
As part of Wildlife Works’ reforestation efforts, our greenhouse team regularly purchase and replant tree seedlings from around our project area in rural Kenya. The greenhouse staff travel to communities around our Wildlife Sanctuary in Rukinga to purchase the seedlings from local farmers at Ksh10 per plant, providing a source of income for some community members who can not find stable work. After the seedlings are purchased, they are kept at the Wildlife Works greenhouse, nourished and prepared for replanting. Once the seedlings are ready, the team distributes them for free to local schools, churches, environmental groups and individuals for planting. On November 23, the greenhouse team hired a canter,…
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Kasim the gardener creates works of living art
Kasim has been a gardener at the Wildlife Works Rukinga Sanctuary Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project for only a few months, but already his work speaks volumes. Kasim is a true artist, blessed with an innate sense of beauty that allows him to create imaginative landscaping including fun, natural signage that create a warm welcome for staff members and visitors to the sanctuary. The 47-year-old father of seven never got to finish his studies, due to lack of funds to pay school fees. He managed to get by, working security jobs at various institutions until he began working for Wildlife Works. Kasim doesn’t let his lack of formal schooling interfere with…
