Jeneal Clegg
04/02/2013
Jonathan Neville
SCI 362
In this simulation we were to review the pros and cons of allowing a foreign pharmaceutical company, Colney & Pitts located in California, to be able to harvest the rainforests tree’s bark, and build a manufacturing plant in the Kenyan highlands, to help in finding medication or herbal remedies for patients, by using the harvested bark to create synthetic medication. This particular simulation was going to affect the rainforest in the Kenya highlands where Kikuyu tribe inhabits the land. The Kikuyu tribe is one of the largest tribes in Kenya; they inhabit the Aberdares mountain range, which is located in the eastern highlands of Kenya. The tribe has done an ethno botanical survey on the use of medicinal plants, showing the popular evergreen tree known as Prunus Africana, has been used to cure prostatitis and genitourinary disorders. Due to the high amount of men suffering from prostate diseases, there is a higher demand for production of drugs that are made from the extracts of the Prunus Africana’s tree bark. Colney & Pitts is trying to work with the Kenyan government, the International Center for Ethno botanical Research (ICER), who have been working with the Kikuyu tribe, and EcoSmiles, who work to preserve the ecosystem in the forests of Kenya. Colney & Pitts understands that they need to not only try to preserve the rainforest but also the native cultures that inhabit the area. They are taking both their needs and also the needs of the tribe and the preservation of the ecosystem. They provided a list of measures which their company believes will help all involved. ICER on the other hand believes that by building a plant in the Kenyan highlands will ruin the ecological balance of the Aberdares mountain range. They also believe by harvesting the Prunus Africana evergreen trees will affect the tribe by soil erosion, ruining the natural vegetation that the tribe plants crops in. They