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Samburu elders participate in many aspects of the field research, in this case holding the tape measure to form one corner of a quadrat in which the team conducts a survey of the medicinal plants growing there. The Earthwatch project is evaluating the economic value and trade of these resources. The community can boost their earnings through the increased sales of medicinal plant products. This concept helps act as an incentive for participation in the conservation project. The Kenyan government is now allowing medicinal plant preparations to be given to patients in conventional hospital settings, which may establish more trust in western medical facilities with the pastoralists, who traditionally rely on their tribal healers when seeking remedies.