The sustainability and continued availability of fruits such as Uapaca and Anisophyllea depends on their careful harvesting. Anisophyllea trees are reported to be victims of irresponsible harvesting by cutting the whole tree (Chishimba, 1996). The reason being that the fruit does not usually drop until it is very ripe in which case the fruit may be rotten. People must therefore be sensitised on the need for proper harvesting methods such as climbing and shaking of the tree to let the fruits drop off. There is also need to educate communities on the dangers of eminent extinction of fruit trees if they continue using unconventional harvesting methods. In the long run, extinction will entail rural dwellers being in a position where they can not afford domesticated fruits that are very expensive at the moment. Uapaca Kirkiana is not so much threatened with extinction as Anisophyllea species are, because the fruit is picked from the ground whenever it ripens. However, there are isolated cases of Uapaca trees being cut down for fruits.
Sustainable utilisation of mushrooms depends on careful management of forests. Disturbed forests lead to reduced recurrence of mushrooms. As the forests further away from where people are, so do the mushroom. Education is also important in this case in order to show people the difference between a normal and a disturbed forest ecosystem.
Similarly Rhynchosia species and Satyria Siva, are under serious threat of extinction because of over extraction, a result of a Lucrative market in the urban areas (Chishimba, 1996). Since the productions of interest are the roots and tubers those who do not know how to harvest properly, uproot even the most critical roots and tubes which are crucial for subsequent regenerations. Education and research would be better methods of trying to address such problems.
Research on regeneration for propagation can help to attain the desired ultimate goal of establishing artificial fields of Rhychosia species and the wild orchid (Satyria siva). Failure to act now will lead to risk of losing these important genetic resources. Although alternatives may be fond for Rhychosia species, they may not be as popular as Rhychosia itself. As for Satyria siva, it is so unique to find an identical product which is so useful and relatively cheap (Chishimba, 1996).
