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Knowledge of traditional medicinal plants in Samburu has been obtained using questionnaire-based surveys carried out by Earthwatch teams, speaking to local medical practitioners, acclaimed traditional healers and other knowledgeable people within the community. Fifty-eight plant species have been identified in use for the treatment of various illnesses in different communities in the region. The methods of harvesting the plants were identified mainly as destructive and unsustainable. Several of the plants are no longer in their original habitat and medicine men have to travel further afield – hills and mountains or localities with higher rainfall and/or water retention - to find plants that had been readily available in their locality in previous years. Changes to the climate and the environment are also likely to be affecting plant propagation and distribution. Here, lead scientist Paul Okemo identifies one of the focal plant species during a quadrat survey.