David Ngala

Category: General | Date: Aug 19 2008 | By: davidngala

Hey guys, this is Carol,

With the excitement on blogging catching on with me, we at FoASF have decideded to restructure and reorganize our blog to be more reader-friendly, this has been a long journey as we have not been having constant internet connection down at Watamu. I am currently in Nairobi and am taking this opportunity to get as much internet connection as possible. I thought it wise to visit Wildlifedirect offices while in Nairobi and to speak to the experts on how to blog and upgrade our blog.

Yesterday I was trained by Samuel of Wildlifedirect on the 101 of blogging , uploading photos , working with different themes, applications some of which i had no idea about. I also got to experiment with a new programme that helps you to reduce the size and pixel of photos and upload them easily into your text. I also got a programme that can help me work on our blog while offline and then connect to the net when i need to publish the blog, this is really cool as it will save us a lot of cash on internet connection. Kindly bear with us we upgrade our blog.

On shopping smart!! 

I was excited to learn all this new stuff. As I left Wildlifedirect offices and headed to town, I met a friend who wanted some help in choosing African antiques to decorate her new home, it was a delight for me to take her round shopping as i also have an eye for African antiques. The feel of the different designs, the texture, the history, the culture all so rich and untapped. it just gives me an inspiration and makes me feel proud to be African and for that matter Kenyan.

As we were shopping we came across some really cool stuff, batik designs, wood carvings of different animal species,  small carvings of wildlife, antiques made from recycled materials such as plastic, wire (got from desnaring activities) banana fibres among others cool materials. i felt like buying everything in the shop (if i could, that is). one thing that crossed my mind was the wood used for caving,  some animal wood cavings were very expensive while others were relatively affordable, as I enquired why I was told its because of the type of wood that is used. Some wood is really expensive as its hardwood and its indigenous and only found in specific areas in Kenya, while other types of wood can easily be found so its not as expensive. This was really intersting to me, as i walked home i thought of all the trees that had to face the saw because of wood craving, to me its really sad, i think people should still make antiques but should be carefuuly on which wood they used and for those of us who buy them we should enquire about the products the materials etc…….. before we buy.

Photos of cut trees.

At Arabuko Sokoke Forest a lot of trees are illegally being cut down to meet the needs of the community members. At FoASF these are some of the activities we do, like reporting on these illegal activities, producing GIS maps that show the paths taken by the locals as some cut the trees.

Unedited waypoints from a GPS - David has been tracking some of these illegal paths at Arabuko Sokoke Forest.

The bottom line is lets shop smart and be carefuly on the products we buy, not only forest products but also wildlife products,  as we continue to buy such products we indirectly encouarge deforestation and destruction of the ecosytem in the name of having beautiful antiques. As lovers of nature we should ensure we practice what we preach. Some really cool materials that can be options of wood are plasta of paris, receyled wire, deadwood not fresh woood among others.

I have come to realize these illegal activities will only seize if the people see the value of the forest in other terms - hence our work on conservation and awareness goes on…….. support us as we carry on our work …. add your voice.