Sclerocarya birrea: a monograph

Sclerocarya birrea ranks among a select group of wide-ranging African trees that have remained essentially wild, despite having had major cultural and economic roles dating back for centuries. Sclerocarya is still important for sustaining rural livelihoods today and there is much recent interest in its domestication and commercialisation, both to protect the tree as a resource and to sustainably exploit it to increase the income and food security of rural people within its natural range. A little over 20 years ago, A K Shone drew together a wealth of information about this fascinating tree in a Bulletin published by the South African Department of Forestry, which remains an indispensable study for anyone concerned with the species in the South African part of the range. There have been many developments involving Sclerocarya since Shone wrote his bulletin, notably a burgeoning interest in its commercial potential and increasing awareness of its significance elsewhere in Africa, on both sides of the equator. This new monograph on the species re-assesses our knowledge of the species and brings it up to date, expanding the context in which the tree is considered to cover the whole of its vast natural range, and covering its emerging commercial potential that is making the tree significant far beyond the local communities which have used and conserved it into present times.

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