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A History
A History
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A History |
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Nature Kenya and EANHS - A history The Beginning
As EANHS members gathered information, there was need to disseminate it. In 1910 the first Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society was published. As the Journal of East African Natural History, published jointly by the Museum and the Society, it is now distributed all over the world. The collections grew more numerous and more valuable. In 1929, enough funds were raised to build public galleries and study laboratories on Ainsworth Hill, now Museum Hill. The Society continued to manage the Coryndon Memorial Museum for ten years, despite great financial constraints and lack of support from the colonial administration. The Museum was open to all races from the start, and more than 5,000 people visited it in 1936. In January 1939 the Society handed over the Museum to a Board of Trustees, and the State agreed to provide funds to employ curators and other staff. In return, the Society retained the right to nominate two members to the Board, space to house its library, and free access to the Museum for its members. The Middle Years Scientists at the Museum, the Herbarium, and the Royal College which became the University of Nairobi, remained active in the EANHS. From the beginning, however, amateurs -- people with no special training but with an interest in nature -- played an important part in all its activities. For instance, Priscilla Allen, a librarian by profession, organised outings over decades, and was instrumental in the formation of the East Africa Natural History Society in Uganda and the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society. In the early days of Kenya's independence, outstanding scientists such as Leslie Brown, Thomas Odhiambo, Malcolm Coe and Andrew Agnew introduced the Society to a wider audience. Long before "the environmental movement" the EANHS was producing and publishing environmental information, under the chairmanship of John Karmali and later John Kokwaro. The Conservation Years It is mainly in the last 30 years that scientists have realized that it is not enough to study biodiversity. If living things, landscapes and ecosystems are to continue to give us joy, knowledge, goods and services, they need to be conserved. During these years, the activities of the East Africa Natural History Society have increasingly shifted towards action for biodiversity conservation. Research continues, through the work of members in the Museums, Universities and research institutions; and through various studies of birds involving a wide range of Society members. At the same time, EANHS conservation action programmes include:
The Way Forward The new millennium brings new challenges. To prepare to meet them, the East Africa Natural History Society has changed the name of its Kenya operations to Nature Kenya, and is recruiting new members. Its strength, for over 90 years, has been in its members. Will you be a part of its future? |
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A
small group of scientists and amateur scientists met in Nairobi in 1909
and formed the "East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society". The Society's
objective was to promote the study of natural history -- animals, plants
and their environment. In those days, the study of natural history often
meant collecting animals and plants. From the collections, species could
be identified and distribution mapped. In 1910, the members of the EANHS
rented a room to store their collections; this was the first Museum. 
