644km walk to save endangered shea tree species

A Ugandan teacher and conservationist is taking a 644km walk to Nairobi in a bid to save the endangered shea nut trees from extinction.

Gerima Mustafa (pictured), 46, is walking to deliver a simple message to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) offices: save the shea trees from rampant felling and charcoal burning.

The broader theme of his walk, however, is to save endangered indigenous trees species, including tamarind and dessert palm trees.

“I am taking my biology lessons beyond the classroom. I tossed in to advocacy and is campaigning for conservation of indigenous trees, including tamarind and dessert palm trees but my flag is shea nut trees,” he told Saturday Standard in Nakuru after covering 514km.

The journey, his second daring walk to save the endangered indeginous trees species, started on February 11 in Kampala, Uganda. He only carried a backpack with a few clothes, water and snacks. He also had two walking sticks -- one to propel him uphill and the other downhill as he trudged along.

The weight of his luggage when he left Uganda was 30kg, which he says weighed him down.

“At some point, I had to reduce the luggage to 9kg because it was overweighing me already. The weight also took a toll on my feet,” he said.

What strikes in Mustafa’s burning spirit is his daring passion beyond the confinement of four walls. He resigned from his job as a high school biology teacher and plunged into conservation.

“I am still a teacher, only that I took my teachings beyond the classroom. Teaching is a noble profession and as a high school biology teacher, I could not teach ecology when there was ecological destabilisation because of things that can be controlled,” he said.

The objective of visiting the Unep offices in Nairobi, he says, is to ask for the programme's support in raising shea tree seedlings and acquiring a demonstration site for restoration and conservation of the species.

Shea trees are only found in in northern and west Nile regions of Uganda and West African countries and are mostly used as cosmetic ingredients for softening skin. Shea butter also has anti-inflammatory and healing properties.

“These indigenous trees species are part of our African heritage but sadly, they are being stripped in our midst to satisfy the growing demand without proper restocking measures,” said Mustafa.