Range Management students participated in the removal of invasive alien plant – Parthenium hysterophorus at the Hyena Dam, Nairobi National Park
The exercise had been organized by the Friends of Nairobi National Park (FoNNAP) for its membership. The park is currently under serious threat from Parthenium hysterophorus which is allelopathic and so it competes major wildlife pastures and forage. Increased growth of P. hysterophorus is as a result of extensive activities within the park such as Standard Gauge Railway construction, frequent maintenance of the access roads and frequent traffic of tourists due to its proximity to the capital city of Kenya. The FoNNAP team currently considers manual extraction of weed as the only available option since chemical control is prohibited at the Park while biological control will only happen after control trials and approvals passed by government. The students were led by Dr. Staline Kibet a lecturer in LARMAT ,College of Agriculture and Veterinary sciences.