Monitoring with baobab harvesters

Last week I did my annual baobab fruit monitoring trip where I gather research information on a spcecific population of 40 baobab trees.  This year I am looking at how much fruit each tree produces each year and how that varies from season to season and between land use types.  Usually I have a field assistant whom I hire from the village, but this time I decided to train some of the fruit harvesters how to do the monitoring.  They found it really interesting and now have a better understanding of resource management.   It's part of a long-term development plan and very important for the harvesters to know how to monitor as one day they will be doing all the monitoring themselves! 

 

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Birds in baobab trees

Birds in baobab trees

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Local headman and I chat about baobabs

Local headman and I chat about baobabs

  One of the wonderful things about my job is that it is so varied, from production, to resource monitoring to community friendships.  Our relationship with the harvesters starts with the headman in each village.  I have had a relationship with some of the village headmen for over 10 years now.  I always love visiting […]

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Baobabs in Cornwall: the Eden Project

Baobabs in Cornwall: the Eden Project

Who would have thought there would be a whole week devoted to the Baobab tree in Cornwall, England? But it’s true! The Eden Project, a wonderful organisation devoted to supporting transformative social and environmental enterprises is hosting a Harvest Festival in Cornwall. http://www.edenproject.com/visit-us/whats-on/other-activities/harvest-food-festival-in-cornwall “Baobab Week” is from the 8th – 13th October. They even have […]

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