Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, known by its acronym PROTA, is an international programme concerned with making scientific information about utility plants accessible in Africa, supporting their sustainable use to reduce poverty.

Mission

PROTA’s stated mission is to synthesise all the information available for approximately 7,000 plants used in tropical Africa, and make it widely accessible in various media. PROTA also intends to promote opportunities for the sustainable use of plants to the public and private sectors, making a difference to the people whose livelihoods depend on plants.

How PROTA works

The programme operates through an international network of institutional partners and collaborators of the PROTA Foundation, and has representatives in 20 African countries.

Publications

The PROTA Handbook is an illustrated encyclopaedia of utility plant species found in tropical Africa. The species reviews contained in each volume are available on CD-ROM, and for free from PROTA online. PROTA plans to publish review articles on some 7,000 plants by 2010. [Siemonsma, J. & Omino, E. (2003) PROTA State of the art. Pp. 90-100. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Omino, E.A. "Proceedings of the First PROTA International Workshop, 23-25 September 2002, Nairobi, Kenya." Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, Wageningen, the Netherlands.]

The PROTA Handbook is unusual because it is compiled as much from obscure publications as it is from peer-reviewed and popular literature, gathered throughout Africa and Europe. Species review articles are written by authors from around the world, and cover a range of information. A recent book review of "PROTA 3: Dyes and tannins" noted that "the information contained in this volume highlights a number of lesser known species, and is a rich source of interesting information for anyone working at the interface of ethnobotany and domestication, and as such is a must have." [Van Damme, P. (2006) Book review - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 3: Dyes and tannins. "Economic Botany" 60: 296-306.]

The PROTA Special Products series presents key findings from the Handbook in a condensed format, for an audience that requires facts and figures about utility plants to inform decisions about conservation, policy and research.

Dissemination

The PROTA Pilot Project Initiative is a funding programme, established in 2005, to ensure that information from PROTA’s publications reaches people who depend on plant resources. Projects are invited for each commodity group published in the Handbook series.

ee also

*Africa
*Ecology
*Natural environment

References

External links

* [http://www.prota.org/uk/About+Prota/ Plant Resources of Tropical Africa]
* [http://database.prota.org/search.htm PROTAbase]


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