PROTA, Introduction
PROTA stands for Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. It is an international documentation programme on the useful plants of Tropical Africa.
It synthesizes dispersed information on about 8000 species, makes it readily available in various forms and stimulates its use for extension, education, research, development and governance.
It contributes to greater awareness and sustainable use of the world heritage of African useful plants, with due respect for traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights. It is available both in English and French.
PROTA was initiated by the University of Wageningen (Netherlands), and acted as a not-for-profit Foundation in the Netherlands and as an international NGO in Kenya. Regional offices were created in Africa, and national offices (Netherlands, United-Kingdom, France) in Europe. It has been active from 2000 to 2013, when it had to stop due to lack of funds.
Last December 2013, PROTA contained 1781 edited articles (in English and French) and 7400 "starter kits" (including species mentioned in articles).
The main website is Prota4U, where you can find edited articles as well as starter kits for pages not already edited. As the site is in Creative Commons ans has an uncertain future, it was decided to duplicate it on Pl@ntUse.
In July 2015, the Prota4U has been transferred from the University of Wageningen to another site in Singapore, but its future is uncertain. It is archived at Internet Archive.
The PROTA books (English / French, with / without CD-ROMs) may be ordered at Agromisa.
