Tanzania: Rare Coffee Plant Highly Advantageous

By Bernard Lugongo

THE Pande Game Reserve on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam city has species of a wild coffee plant that aren't found anywhere else within the country and the world at large, scientists have

established.

Going by its scientific name of Tricalysia Bridsoniana Var Pandensis, under the family of Rubiaceae, the native plant is said to have characteristics of growing in the coastal zone.

Curator of Herbarium at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Mr Frank Mbago, introduced the plant to journalists and landscapers during a tour at the game reserve yesterday.

The tour, organized by the Culture and Development East Africa (CDEA) under the project named 'OkoaMimeayaAsili', focuses on exploring the richness of native plants and their possible domestic uses.

These include medicines and gardening against the growing number of alien plants that people use, mainly for gardening.

Mr Mbago said there are only three trees of TricalysiaBridsonianaVarPandensis species remaining at the Pande Game Reserve.

"This plant is endemic to Pande Game Reserve and more experiments are still ongoing in our department at the UDSM on how to propagate this plant so that they don't disappear, considering that they are among endangered plants," he stated.

However, due to its rareness, the plant could be a good attraction for ecotourism in the Pande Game Reserve.

"I encourage people to visit this game reserve to witness a rare type of wild coffee as part of tourism," Mr Mbago said.

He further stated that the game reserve is rich in almost all types of native plants available in coastal areas.

He commended the government for intensifying security in the reserved forests, a move which has curbed the disappearance of indigenous trees.

In the past, indigenous trees were disappearing at an alarming rate due to human activities such as felling trees for conversion into timber for house construction.

"We have noted that there's now an increase of native trees after the government's initiative to strengthen security," he noted.

He advised people to turn to the use of indigenous plants for gardening in their homes, arguing that there are numerous native plants that are good for gardening and they are evergreen," he further remarked, as he discouraged alien plants which are the cause of the disappearance of native plants.

He pointed out that the native plants were good for the ecosystem.

"When you grow indigenous plants at your home, you would even attract birds whose sounds contribute to serenity," he said, encouraging roadside sellers of trees to start thinking of growing and selling indigenous plants as a way of spreading the plants instead of alien ones.

A former senior researcher with the Tanzania Forests Services Agency (TFS), Mr Mathias Lema, explained that the Pande Game Reserve has huge biodiversity, rich in herbal medicines.

Mr Lema also said that the game reserve was ideal for domestic tourism, though the majority of Dar es Salaam residents were not aware of the attractions available there.

The Acting Head of Protection Unit at the Pande Game Reserve, Mr Erick Mongi, said the reserve has a size of 15.9 square kilometres.

Mr Mongi said the unit had been effectively protecting the area to ensure that wild animals and native plants were safe, as well as educating the members of public surrounding the game on the importance of the available natural resources.