Multiplant International Medicinal Conservation(MIMC) is a non-profit making organization based in Trans-nzoia District, Endebess Division, Kaa-moss farm 25 km West of Kitale town at an altitude of 1800-2200m.
MIMC is primarily concerned with wild plants conservation as well as integrating conservation with sustainable development, equitable use of aromatic and medicinal plants for the well-being of our entire society in general.
The organization has put medicinal and aromatic plants to the economic benefit of disadvantaged people and especially the women to enhance gender equality and improve income in rural poor.
The specific objectives of MIMC are;
- To undertake and encourage the planting and tending of valuable and endangered plant species.
- To identify medicinal and aromatic plants species for which demand exists and which are suitable for cultivation in tropical countries.
- To identify suitable partners among those who are cultivating land and forging alliances with interested individuals, particularly women, on alternative land use for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants.
- To carry out field trials with selected plants species.
- To establish broad ranged field extraction facilities in rural areas.
- To train people and particularly women in operating and maintaining field extraction facilities.
- To set up a simple packaging and storage facilities for semi processed materials.
- To establish in close collaboration with academic and research institutions on quality control mechanisms.
- To encourage small-scale entrepreneurship and establish marketing mechanisms.
10. To liaise with similar initiatives elsewhere in tropical countries.
11. To mobilize funding from national, and international bodies to enable launching of the initiative and maintaining its functions
Mimc activities;
Since its inception, Mimc has advocated the establishment of medicinal plant nurseries in rural communities where useful plants are propagated not only to provide a source of coveted medicinal and edible plants, but the aim is to familiarize the public and especially the young people with useful medicinal plants that are used by their society in health improvement.
We have established an ethnobotanic garden consisting of herbal indigenous plants in cultivated plots thus serving as demonstration and commercial garden whereby, over harvested wild plant species are planted.
Current activities:
• Propagation and cultivating of endangered medicinal plants
• Medicinal plant nursery with over 100,000 seedlings.
• Processing and packaging of medicinal plants
• Environmental education and awareness creation
The Director, Mr. Joannes Bosco B. Samikwo, is also an herbal practitioner, and medicinal plants consultant in various organizations in Kenya including Plants for life. MIMC is accredited member of BGCI in the international agenda in plant conservation. One of the aims of BGCI is to ensure that national botanic gardens conserve indigenous flora.
MULTIPLANT INTERNATIONAL MEDICINAL CONSERVATION
Multiplant international medicinal conservation was founded in September 2002 with a mission of restoring, researching, capacity building and awareness creation on the uses of medicinal herbal plants for our own well-being, and conservation of indigenous wild plants species. And MIMC remains committed to supporting public rights to truthful information about the health benefit of medicinal herbal plants.
With the little income Mimc was generating from medicinal plants and products sale, Mimc was able to undertake and perform some activities like; Monthly environmental and ethnobotanic education, putting medicinal plants to the economic benefit of disadvantaged communities to provide income, nutrition and health improvement.
Mimc has encouraged communities to plant valuable endangered medicinal plants like Echinops, Warburgia, Euphorbia crotonoides, Withania somnifera e.t.c as any other crop for their own benefits and the entire world community in the coming future. Through our education programmes, we’re reaching about 100 people each month with accurate information on the safe and appropriate use of medicinal herbal plants.
Environmental & Plant Conservation;
Plants are important and yet their habitats are vitally important as well, plants provide us with; food, medicine, firewood, clothes, regulate climate, stabilizes the soil, oxygen production and it makes life on earth possible for both humans and all other animal form. The consumption of plant based medicines and health food is a worldwide phenomenon. This has resulted in the rapid growth in trade in hundreds of wild crafted and cultivated medicinal plants and development of a sophisticated botanical extraction industry. Plant species are vanishing at an alarming rate, and out of 270,000 of the plant species found in 200 countries, one in eight is threatened with extinction. And this is brought up by the loss of wild habitats, growing industrialization, urbanization, intensive farming and unsustainable harvesting of wild species and ideally, together we can save plant live before being destructed or over harvested.
Sustainable management of traditional medicinal plants resources is important, not only because of their value as a potential source of new drugs but due to reliance on traditional medicinal plants for health. The vast majority of people in Africa consult traditional medicinal practitioners for their health care. With few exceptions, traditional medicinal plants are gathered from the wild. Although reliance on traditional medicinal practitioners may decline in long term as alternative health care, facilities become available, increasing demand for popular herbal medicines is expected in the foreseeable future.
Over the same period, certain vegetation types that were sources of supply of traditional medicines are drastically vanishing due to forest clearance for agriculture, uncontrolled burning, logging and livestock grazing. And exclusion from core conservation areas adversely affects traditional medicinal practitioners who previously gathered medicinal plants in those sites. In addition, supplies of herbal medicines to traditional medicinal practitioners are affected by competing resource use such as; timber logging, commercial harvesting for export etc. This creates a growing demand for fewer resources in some cases resulting in local disappearance of favored and effective sources of traditional medicine and reduced species diversity.
The most vulnerable species are popular, slow growing or slow to reproduce or species with specific habitat requirements and a limited distribution. Although in theory, sustainable use of bark, roots or whole plant used as herbal medicines is possible, the high levels of money and manpower for intensive management of slow growing species in multiple species systems are unlikely to be found in most African countries.
The cultivation of alternative sources of supply of popular, high conservation areas is therefore essential. However, commercial cultivation of such species is not a simple solution and at present, it is unlikely to be profitable due to the slow growth rate for most species and low prices paid for traditional medicines.
With over 1200 species of indigenous plants growing in our Ethnobotanic garden, the garden is becoming a seed bank of many species that are locally, nationally or internationally threatened.
Environmental education
MIMC runs courses on herbal medicines, plant identification, tree growing and management (from tree nursery to forest establishment) and nature walks. For bookings, contact Joannes on 0735393606; email: [email protected]
MIMC ASSOCIATED ACTIVITIES
Since its establishment in the year 2002, we started with a small home tree nursery that consisted of 1 tree species (Pittosporum viridiflorum) and gradually, the tree nursery begun to emerge and so far we’ve planted over 500,000 seedlings since we started.
MIMC plant collection, propagation and conservation activities
MIMC has collected, conserved, propagated and planted over 1200 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and herbs since September 2002. These consist of over 850 upland Kenya species, 50 lowland Kenya species, 50 non-Kenyan African species, and 114 exotic species (non Kenya and Africa in general). These can be found both inside the main campus and seedlings can be obtained from our extension campus nursery, and retail outlets countrywide.
Ethnobotanic and herbal garden
On southern side of Endebess, at Chorlim location, ask for a place called Kaa-moss farm, this is just off the Mt. Elgon National park road, you’ll find our 1 hectare Ethnobotanic garden which consists of medicinal nursery and herbal garden. Inside the garden and its environ, we’re finding more bird and insect species coming in but no inventory record that has been kept up to date but soon we’re going do develop one.
Medicinal plant nursery
Multiplant medicinal nursery currently has many species for sale, especially on contract order. We mainly concentrate on unusual indigenous trees and non tree plants found in local habitat. We’ve two medicinal nurseries one at the main Mimc Ethnobotanic garden campus and the other one at Mimc extension campus at Endebess trading centre (Suam road just after the Endebess bridge then turn to your right).
Recreation
At Mimc main campus garden and extension campus, we’ve visitors and recreation centre both for children and adult. Mimc visitors centre offers several recreational services and we do also serve refreshments at our coffee shop as per request.
Indigenous flower garden;
Most of our landscaping has been done using indigenous wild flowers found locally from within and some from the alpine zone of Mt. Elgon. This will encourage more people who visit the garden to transform their gardens into beautiful natural eco gardens thus improving biodiversity in general.
MIMC Resources/products;
Our products range from; Herbal soaps, Natural beauty products, Herbal teas, Herbal tinctures, Medicinal plant seedlings, Medicinal plant seeds, Semi-processed herbal products
Our main species;
At Mimc, our main species of interest is to conserve all the wild plant species despite their economic importance.
Our total collection at Mimc
• 850 upland species
• 50 lowland/coastal species
• 50 non-Kenyan African
• 114exotic species
Total =1064 species in our Ethno-botanic garden
Our core message to the entire world community;
“Care for plants and they’ll care for you”.
CONTACT
MULTIPLANT INTERNATIONAL MEDICINAL CONSERVATION | ENDEBESS | P.O. Box 50 | ENDEBESS-30201, Kenya | FAX +254-54-31126 | +254735393606/+254733977536/ +254724905805/+254726401974
