INTEGRATING LOCAL PLANT RESOURCES AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT

The use of wild plant resources as a source of basic needs is an impor tant aspect of multiple-use of land in much of Africa, ranging from ve getation with a low species diversity, high biomass production and res ilience to harvesting (e.g. Phragmites reedbeds, Cymbopogon grasslands ) through to vegetation with a high diversity of species (and plant li fe-forms), with a multiple of uses and often low resilience to resourc e harvesting (e.g. medicinal plants, pole cutting, fuelwood from Afro- montane forest). Complexity and costs of managing sustainable use of w ild populations increase markedly with an increasing number of uses an d resource users. It is suggested that if the primary objective of cor e conservation areas is accepted to be the maintenance of habitat and species diversity, then the limited money and manpower available for m anagement of core conservation areas in southern Africa limits sustain able harvesting use of plant resources to low diversity, low conservat ion priority vegetation types or encroaching species. For high diversi ty, high conservation priority sites such as Afro-montane or Coastal e vergreen forest, the emphasis must be on providing alternative sources of supply to resource users outside of core areas. Botanical gardens staff, with their horticultural experience, can play a very important role through 'bulking up' material for supply to small farmers, herbal ists and introducing additional species for agro-forestry. Botanical g ardens can play a greater role in the establishment of field gene bank s and ex situ conservation of vulnerable species. They can also provid e a valuable educational and research role on mass production techniqu es to boost local stocks of threatened and commercially valuable speci es for cultivation by local people, whether farmers or specialist user s (e.g. herbalists) in the country of origin as a means of generating employment and restoring local self-sufficiency.