12 
Bulletin of the EANHS 28(2) 
paludosa, a tree that dominates the adjacent rainforest. 
Luckily, no rain added to our discomfort on the journey. 
Forest trophies here were [railing lianes bearing 
edible fruits: Saba, Landolphia and Dioscorea bulbifera. 
One intelligent lad claimed his rewards from Tony’s 
pocket for a real collection of forest fruits. He walked 
away very happy, the envy of his small friends, The 
artist continued to sweat, sitting at Andronieus’ famous 
Hoteli, trying faithfully to record the forest bounty as 
black lines on paper for readers of the proposed new 
book. 
Ann Birnie, Tony Katende & Paul Ssegawa 
Nature Kenya (FONA), PO Box 44486. Nairobi, 
Kenya 
SOCIETY NEWS 
EANHS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 15 
JUNE 1998 
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT, 1997/8 
Ladies and gentlemen 
A warm welcome to the Society’s 88th Annual General 
Meeting. All AGMs are important, but some are even 
more important than others, and I am happy that you 
have found time to attend what is likely to be a 
particularly significant meeting this evening, 
At the last AGM, my report examined some of the 
opportunities and challenges facing the Society. I also 
outlined the Executive Committee’s plans for the coming 
year. I am pleased to say that we have made considerable 
progress in 1997/8 in positively re-shaping our 
organisation—both literally and figuratively In our 
Society, forward progress generally happens in a rather 
chameleon-like manner: it is cautious, tentative and 
above all, sedate. By this standard, events this year have 
been moving at positively breakneck speed 1 have 
reported on some of the key developments in the April 
newsletter, but let me go over them again very briefly 
here. 
Soon after last year’s AGM, we circulated a 
questionnaire to all members asking for their views on 
the Society’s strengths, weaknesses and present and 
future activities. The responses, outlined in the latest 
Bulletin , were very helpful in guiding discussions during 
our Strategic Planning Workshop held in Naivasha 
towards the end of August. The results of the workshop 
were an outline plan and a set of immediate next steps, 
which the Executive has been busy working on since 
then. We shall be discussing and, I hope, approving 
some of the outputs later this evening. They include a 
revised Constitution, bringing up to date the way the 
Society is set up and manages its affairs, and the draft 
Articles and Memorandum of Association for ‘Nature 
Kenya’. The latter documents set up a company limited 
by guarantee, wholly owned and controlled by the 
Society, that will undertake the national activities of 
the EANHS in Kenya 
It had been our hope and intention to present the 
completed Strategic Plan to the AGM this evening too. 
Unfortunately, there has been too much other work— 
your Executive Committee members all have other 
jobs!—and this hasn’t been possible. The essential 
dements of the plan can be found in the logical 
framework produced during the Strategic Planning 
Workshop, copies of which are available in the Society 
office Progress on the plan is being made and we shall 
keep members updated through the newsletter. 
The Society ’s administration and staffing have made 
great leaps forward during the year. The Executive 
Committee had been finding itself increasingly bogged 
down in needless deliberation of day-to-day detail. A 
Management Sub-committee was therefore set up soon 
after the AGM to assist with making some of the day- 
to-day administrative decisions, The MS-c has clear 
terms of reference approved by the Executive, and has 
proved very useful in keeping the Society’s 
administration on track. On the advice of the MS-c, we 
purchased a new photocopier, computer and printer to 
replace and upgrade the equipment relocated from our 
office by the Kenya Wetlands Working Group convenor. 
The MS-c also drew up job descriptions, and between 
September 1997 and April 1998 interviewed applicants, 
for five new posts. We have been very pleased to 
welcome the following new staff (in chronological 
order): Elizabeth Nyamburaas General Assistant, Shriti 
Rajani as Executive Officer, Solomon Mwangi as Sites 
Conservation Officer, Paul Matiku as Conservation 
Promotion Officer and Anthony Kurta as TBA/EANHS 
Project Officer. They join Catherine Ngarachu, our 
existing Office Manager, and Vincent Owuor, 
Administrative Assistant, who is now working full-time 
for the Society. 
By some invariant organisational law, the amount 
of work expands even faster than the number of people 
available to do it. Nonetheless we now have an excellent 
team in place that should be able to respond to the 
needs of the membership as well as carry out our 
expanding conservation work effectively. 
Unlike the workload or die staff, the size of our 
office is completely static. In April we completed office 
renovations intended to make better use of the available 
area. The results are pleasing. Everyone now has a desk 
and the ‘new’ design is much more comfortable and 
practical to work in. 1 urge any members who haven’t 
been to the office recently to pop in and see the changes 
for themselves. 
The BirdLife Partnership in Africa, of which we 
are part together with six other NGOs from Sierra 
Leone, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda (also the EANHS), 
Ethiopia and South Africa, has held two meetings of its 
Council and the wider network in the past year. T£ie 
first was hosted by us at Elsamere, Lake Naivasha in 
