At the end of last month’s article I promised to cover trees that are medicinal, attract birds, etc. so I had to think of a species that does more than one thing at a time – sort of arboreal ‘multi-taskers”. New “Wonder Trees” hit the Ugandan headlines every few years. Prunus is no exception. Such trees can get people quite excited…don’t get me wrong, but yes, some even do that, too. (Perhaps in another artic. Ed)

Where the “wonder tree” grows only in the wild, commercial success tends to spell ecological disaster. Hence my pick of trees for this article - the indigenous Prunus africana, a.k.a. Pygeum, African Cherry Tree, Red stink wood (when crushed, its leaves, and bark, smell just like almonds – a close relative), and locally as Ngwabuzito, Ntaseesa, or Omugote. It is a tall tree that grows all over higher altitude moist forests of Africa, including Uganda, in forests such as Mabira, Kalinzu, Bwindi, Kibaale, Rwenzori, and Mt Elgon.

Traditional African healers have used the bark to treat bladder and urination disorders for thousands of years. Since this indigenous knowledge was ‘discovered’ by western medicine in the 1970s, its bark has been heavily exploited all over Africa for western markets because an extract has been clinically proven to reduce Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (swelling of the prostate gland) in ageing men, reducing the need for expensive and potentially life threatening surgery, (but not curing prostrate cancer, as many popular articles mistakenly claim). BPH rarely causes symptoms before age 40, but more than half of men in their sixties and as many as 90 percent in their seventies and eighties have some symptoms, especially in populations that have less than ideal diets and drink rather a lot (I’m told Scotland’s way up there). As far back as 1994, almost 400 000 surgical procedures to correct BPH were performed in the US, second only to cataract surgery, at a total cost of $5 billion per annum.

As the world population gets larger and older, and with increasing interest in herbal remedies, there is growing demand for Prunus bark - commercial over-the-counter trade in Prunus derivatives has been estimated to be worth some $220million annually. Historically the bigger market for Prunus bark extract has been South West Europe but it is growing in the US. No wonder also that it was listed on Appendix II of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species in 1995 (in theory meaning that only controlled trade within scientific quotas is allowed). In the past, it has been illegally harvested and literally smuggled out of Uganda – you can still see felled and stripped stems of Prunus in Kalinzu and Mabira forests.

Being a male just passing the 40 mark (of which 4 years were spent studying in Scotland consuming my fair share of local ‘delicacies’) and having spent almost almost 10 years of my professional life trying to bring under control the highly destructive practise of felling Prunus africana trees on Mt Cameroon, I already had at least two good reasons to plant a Prunus tree in pride of place at the entrance to my garden in Kampala. Another excellent reason is that they are easy to plant, grow remarkably fast, are not bad looking and within a few years will start to flower and produce fruit like small cherries, that the birds will go crazy for.

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has recently done a lot of research on Prunus in Uganda and it is reported that Mukwano are now planting up to 1,000 hectares of it to supply future demand. Just as well - given the destruction that continues in the natural populations of Prunus. But to make sure, why not plant a couple yourself in your own garden? You may not get rich quick doing so (they take at least 15 years to reach harvestable size), but ‘growing your own’ endangered species is good for conservation, and conversation for that matter. Plus it is probably a smart personal health insurance policy.

James Acworth (green.solutions.uganda-at-gmail.com).