René Haller (agronomist)
René Daniel Haller (born December 18, 1933 in Lenzburg ) is a Swiss tropical agronomist . His specialties are renaturation , environmental protection and ecology .
His best-known project is the ecological restoration of the Bamburi Cement mining area near Mombasa , Kenya . Part of the previously devastated, large fossil coral limestone mining area now forms the Haller Park, which is open to the public . He is the author of many well-known specialist articles and a speaker on the topics of ecology / economy and revitalization of devastated industrial farmland. Haller is the founder of the Haller Foundation , he was chairman of the Baobab Trust and longstanding advisory member of the Kenya Wildlife Service .
Life
René Haller grew up in Lenzburg in Aargau . He learned the trade of gardener and specialized in landscaping. Before he went to East Africa in 1956, he attended the basic and agronomy courses at the Swiss Tropical Institute at the University of Basel .
In 1956 Haller came to East Africa , where he managed a coffee plantation at the foot of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania . In 1959 he took over the position of head of the agricultural department at the industrial company Bamburi Cement in Mombasa. Its main task was to ensure the nutrition of the factory workers through a farm with fruits and vegetables attached to the factory. In addition to a large number of other tasks, he was also responsible for the "greening" of the factory area and the workers' settlement including the school area.
Under Haller's management, as its director from 1982, the farm expanded its product range, e.g. B. fish farming, chicken farming (eggs and meat), goat and sheep, and later ostrich rearing. From 1977 the Baobab Farm LTD became independent. Around 1998, shortly before Haller's official retirement, the farm employed around 460 Kenyan workers.
The factory owner at the time, Felix Mandl, also commissioned René Haller from 1971 with the re-greening / reforestation of the several square kilometers of the devastated area of the former limestone mining area. Today Bamburi Cement is part of the international Lafarge SA building materials group. This marked the beginning of an economic and ecological experiment for Haller.
The inhospitable hot stone desert lacked a soil substrate ( humus ). The erupting groundwater was salty due to the proximity to the coast. Fresh water collected on the surface due to precipitation. All known reforestation projects failed because of these environmental conditions. Haller achieved his first successes with casuarinas (Casuarinaceae) and the deciduous Conocarpus ( Conocarpus erectus ). This resulted in shading for the first time and thus the prerequisite for a soil microclimate. The falling needles (small twigs) and leaves soon formed a floor covering that hardly rotted. With a large millipede ( Epibolus pulchripes ) that ate the needles of the casuarina and was able to digest them, the decisive step towards humus formation was achieved.
After hundreds of setbacks and a lot of free experimentation, Haller achieved that self-regulating ecosystems have stabilized again, in shallow brackish water, in bushland and in forest areas. With his integrated aquaculture, forestry and antelope breeding he has also proven that sustainable yields can be generated for the growing population of East Africa without destroying the natural ecosystems, but by integrating them.
The public Bamburi Quarri Nature Trail , today Haller Park , includes the various types of vegetation for visitors, as well as an insight into their specific animal world, which is essential to maintain the ecosystem. Haller Park is not only a sight for coastal tourism, but the visit is an integral part of the curriculum of the Kenyan secondary school.
Training and placement in the broadest sense has always been a major concern of Haller. Year after year, dozens of students and lecturers from many universities around the world stayed in the specially set up camp. Industrialists (especially the cement industry) and politicians looked at this eco-renaturation example. At the same time, local interested parties, regardless of their status, were instructed in the Bamburi language and encouraged an open exchange of ideas.
Haller was always interested in networked thinking, also in terms of ecology / economy. Under the Kenyan sun, it is important to use resources sparingly and to feed the population. In addition to crocodile and fish breeding, antelope breeding / domestication was also pursued. B. with the oryx antelope (billy goat). This antelope can live under extreme desert conditions, which in turn can bring in valuable meat and leather for the breeder in otherwise economically undeveloped areas.
In 1991 René Haller founded the Baobab Trust together with Robert Brenneisen, a retired director of Bamburi Cement , in order to enable non-commercial and charitable activities of the baobab farm. This trust was supported by well-known environmental protection organizations for individual projects. Baobab Trust is mostly supported by the Haller Foundation, founded in 2004. Today René Haller is retired and retired, the activities will be continued by the Baobab Trust.
Haller is married and has two sons.
Awards
For his services in environmental protection, Haller was awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honor of the United Nations UNEP in 1987 , outstanding environmental achievements (for exceptional services / achievements in environmental protection). In 1991 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel and the Dr. JE Brandenberger awarded. In April 2003, Haller was appointed to the permanent advisory board of the Kenya Wildlife Service .
Web links
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- Haller Foundation website
- Baobab Trust website
- www.stiftungbrandenberger.ch Homepage of the Brandenberger Foundation
- René Haller, Sabine Bär: From the stone desert to paradise. From Wasteland to Paradise. from 1993
- Baobab Farm News, Antelope Domestication. No. 63, 14 Lungfish. No. 67, 18 tilapia. No. 68, 19 coral limestone. No. 73, 24 sea turtles. No. 75, 25
- Sea Turtle Project. Baobab Trust 1997
- Baobab Trust, background. June 12, 1992 Sabine Bär
- Bamburi Nature Trail. Leader (undated)
- Bamburi Cement. Annual reports and news
Magazines / newspapers
- NZZ. November 4, 1991 Brandenberger Prize for René Haller
- NZZ. November 12, 1991 René Haller - tropical agronomist
- Bridge builder / Migros newspaper. January 12, 1994 A unique experiment
- NZZ. November 4, 1994 Schweizer turns stone desert into paradise
- NZZ. December 9, 1994 Stone desert turned into paradise, letter to the editor
- Naturally No. 7, 2006 A green thumb in the rocky desert
Individual evidence
- ↑ Baobab Farm News , Banana Raising. No. 52, 5
- ^ Baobab Farm News , Fish Farm. No. undated
- ^ Ostrich keeping project. 1996
- ↑ Habari ya Baobab. (Newsletter of Bamburi Portland Cement Co LTD) September 1993, A million trees reforested since 1965
- ↑ Baobab Trust, background. June 12, 1992 Sabine Bär
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Haller, René |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Haller, René Daniel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss tropical agronomist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 18, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lenzburg , Aargau, Switzerland |