Day 2, Session 3: The role and perspectives of forest communities in the forest reform process Presentation by Michael Gachanja, Coordinator, Kenya Forests Working Group

1. The roles and perspectives of forest
communities in the forest reform
process: The case of Kenya
A presentation by:
Michael Gachanja
KENYA FORESTS WORKING GROUP

2. Preamble
Presentation:
Presentation:
Extent of forest cover and trends in Kenya.
Extent of forest cover and trends in Kenya.
The Forests Act provisions on community involvement.
Preamble
The Forests Act provisions on community involvement.
Status of forest reforms as regards community involvement.
Status of forest reforms as regards community involvement.
Community perspectives/views on forest sector reforms.
Community perspectives/views on forest sector reforms.
Challenges and opportunities in forest sector reforms.
Challenges and opportunities in forest sector reforms.
Recommendations.
Recommendations.

3. Location and extent
n
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d
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S E t
h i
o p
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Forest Tenure Types
Forest Tenure Types
U g a n d a
An overview
•Closed forests (tree
•Closed forests (tree
cover >>40 %) cover 1.7
cover 40 %) cover 1.7
S o m a l i a
% of Kenya total land
% of Kenya total land
area.
area.
They are mainly located
They are mainly located
in the highlands of
in the highlands of
central and western
central and western
Kenya.
Kenya.
T
The largest forest blocks
The largest forest blocks
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z are montane forests.
are montane forests.
a e
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i a
O
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d
Forests
I n

4. Forest Cover: Historical trends
• At the time of the first European settlement in
Kenya, there were substantially more closed
forests than there is today.
• The total area of closed forests, in 1962, was 6,500
square miles(1,683,500 Ha.), excluding internal
grasslands,
• This covered 2.7% of the total land area,
• Today, this has reduced to 1.7% and is going
down.

5. Forest Management: a historical sketch
• Forest resource management has largely been a command and control
system under the old forests law.
• Under the old Act, timber production was the key driver of forest
management.
• The old legislation had many shortcomings including lack of a
comprehensive mechanism for involving local communities in forest
management.
• Clamour for change resulted to the review of the old act. A New Act
came into force on 1st February 2007.
• The Act upholds the principle of public participation in forest
management.

6. Provisions of the Act
• A member of a forest community may,
together with other members or
persons resident in the same area,
register a community forest association
under the Societies Act.
• The registered association may apply to the
Director for permission to participate in the
conservation and management of a state
forest or local authority forest.

7. Functions of the associations
• Protect, conserve and manage such forest or part
thereof pursuant to an approved management
agreement entered into under the Act and the
provisions of the management plan for the forest;
• Formulate and implement forest programmes
consistent with the traditional forest user rights of
the community concerned in accordance with
sustainable use criteria;

8. Functions of the association
• Keep the Service informed of any
developments, changes and occurrences
within the forest which are critical for the
conservation of biodiversity;
• Help in fire fighting; and
• Do any other act that is necessary for the
efficient conservation and management of
the forest.

9. Forest Management Agreement
• The management agreement
between the Director and the
association may confer on the
association all or any of the
following forest user rights-

10. Possible User rights
• Collection of medicinal herbs;
• Harvesting of honey;
• Harvesting of timber or fuel
wood;
• Grass harvesting and grazing;

11. Possible User rights cont..
• Collection of forest produce for
community based industries;
• Ecotourism and recreational
activities;
• Scientific and education
activities;

12. Possible User rights cont..
• Plantation establishment through non-
resident cultivation;
• Contracts to assist in carrying out
specified silvicultural operations;
• Development of community wood
and non-wood forest based industries;

13. Status of forest reforms in Kenya
• Since 2007, few little changes has taken place, mostly on
institutional settings.
• Many CFAs have been formed most on adhoc basis. A
guideline on their formation and others on PFM in place.
• Nine forest management plans have been prepared, all
through donor support.
• No forest management agreement has been negotiated and
signed between CFAs and KFS.
• Management agreement supportive legislation (rules and
regulation) not gazetted though finalised over one year
ago.
• Political situation (Grand coalition government)
contributing to slow paced forest sector reforms.

14. Community perspective on forest sector
reforms
• High expectations on benefits to be accrued. If not met it may be
counter productive to the reforms.
• Community involvement wrongly interpreted in certain cases.
• In absence of signed management agreements, community is still
not sure of what lies ahead.
• Government not interested in real community forest management
BUT would like to use communities to contain illegal activities.
• The New law shifts the governments function as a regulator,
manager and owner to that of being a regulator. Having
controlled forests for decades, the government is reluctant to
confer most of the user rights to communities.
• This is compounded by government policies requirement that
semi autonomous institutions should be financially self reliant.
• Community feeling cheated in bidding of forest ecotourism sites.
The requirements are a hindrance to most CFAs.

15. Challenges
• The requirement that an application by CFA should be
accompanied by a forest management plan has made the
process expensive beyond the capacity of local
communities.
• Capacity to prepare forest management plans is lacking in
CFAs.
• Inadequate advice during formation of CFAs has led to
formation of associations that may not be appropriate for
forest management.
• The forest user rights being conferred to communities are
limited and inadequate.
• This is as a result of the forestland tenure - most of the
forests are owned by the central government (forest land
reserve or trust land forests). Access, rights and benefits are
therefore limited.

16. Challenges
• Different players in the reform process still have
inadequate understanding of the roles each
stakeholder is expected to play in the
implementation of the Act.
• Community, government and other stakeholders’
expectations do not seem to converge.
• Forest benefit sharing poses a challenge in forest
sector reforms
• Most of the foresters will take time to embrace
Participatory Forest Management approaches

17. Recommendations
• There is need for government, NGOs, grassroots
organisations and the private sector to provide
relevant and cost effective financial, marketing
and technical services to CFAs,
• There should be an initiative aimed at enhancing
the capacity of CFAs,
• The government should provide for tangible forest
benefits to CFAs.
• There is need to draw experiences from other
countries such as Nepal.