Abstract Detail

Education and Outreach

Barkworth, Mary [1], Awale, Ahmed Ibrahim [2], Gelle, Faisal Jama [3], Pickering, Helen [4], Warsame, Mohamud Ahmed [5].

Progress in Building a Biodiversity Program in Somaliland.

The Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation was started in 2016 to build a biodiversity program in Somaliland based at the University of Hargeisa. The first step taken was creation of a herbarium at the university. The herbarium is growing slowly, partly because of the expense of traveling around the country, partly because the droughts of the last few years have led to poor growth and severe overgrazing. Nevertheless, it is growing, largely through the efforts of Helen Pickering who will be publishing a pictorial Guide to the Wild Flowers of Central Somaliland which will be available, in both English and Somali, through various outlets in late July 2018. Helen’s work has led, with the help of botanists at Kew and Lucas Majure of the Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona, to the discovery of several additions to the known flora of Somaliland as reflected in the Flora of Somalia, a result that came as no surprise to Mats Thulin, the Flora’s editor. In addition, information on a new species, the Somali Red Aloe, first noticed by Ahmed Awale, President of SBF, has been submitted for formal publication. Other milestones include establishment of a semi-annual newsletter; hiring of a museum assistant, Faisal Gelle; initiation of an insect collection; expansion of the online checklist of campus plants; and development of an ex-situ conservation site for succulents on the University of Hargeisa campus. Faisal is helping make the museum and SBF more widely known in Somaliland by representing the association at conferences and translating the newsletters and Helen’s book into Somali. He is now helping develop instructional materials that will be made available in both English and Somali.

Related Links:
Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation

1 - 397 Lauralin Drive, Logan, UT, 84321, United States
2 - Candlelight for Environment, Education, and Health, Maamuus Street, New Hargeisa, Hargeisa, Somaliland
3 - Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation, Biodiversity Museum, University of Hargeisa, Hargeisa, Somaliland
4 - Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens , Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
5 - University of Hargeisa, Research and Community Service, Hargeisa, Somaliland

Keywords:
Somaliland
floristics
education
development
biodiversity.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 27, Contributed Papers: Education and Outreach II
Location: 104/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: 27003
Abstract ID:368
Candidate for Awards:None