HomeKenya has a forest cover of 7.4% down from 18% in the 1950s. And the government of Kenya is targeting to increase that to 10% by the end of 2022. This was inspired by the extreme drought that Kenya has been facing over the past decade and it has caused many families to endure the pangs of hunger.
Carcasses of lifeless emaciated animals are seen in some ASAL areas of the country which are the livelihood of many pastoralist communities. Concern Worldwide says that 3.1 million Kenyans are facing hunger due to the failed rains for the fourth consecutive year. Additionally, approximately 1.4 million animals have died so far due to the ongoing drought.
Climate change has been cited as one of the causes of the drought and as the food prices continue to soar these numbers will only surge higher. That’s why we need to restore our forest cover because of the crucial role that trees play.
Here are the NGOs that are protecting our forests in Kenya
Kenya Forests Working Group (KFWG)
KFWFG is a conglomerate of organizations, institutions (governmental and non-governmental, local and international), individuals and community organizations. It was formed in 1995 with an aim to promote sound forest management and conservation practices in Kenya.
They also play the watchdog role of monitoring forests, advocacy, influencing forest-friendly policies and training communities in these areas to participate in conservation efforts.
Mt Kenya Environmental Conservation
This non-governmental organization was started in 2015 by a group of concerned youth. They noticed that the forests in Mt Kenya were declining at an alarming rate due to massive deforestation.
Originally the group was called Save Mount Kenya Forests from Extinction Group in 2007. They made it their mission to rehabilitate part of the Mt Kenya forests and to promote farm forestry.
This group concentrates on training communities and empowering them to rely on forest products. They also give trainings that focus on tree nurseries establishments and management, transplanting of trees in the forest, site preparation and after planting management.
Trees for Kenya
It’s a Kenyan NGO whose edge is specializing in partnerships with communities, Community Forest Associations and Kenya Forest Service to identify degraded forest lands that need reforestation.
They also get seedlings from donors to plant them and also manage community tree nurseries. They have identified the needs of Kenyan citizens who live in these areas such as fuelwood. Therefore they support farmers to plant trees for fuelwood, fruits, agroforestry, timber, soil improvement, fodder, nitrogen balance and so much more.
Trees for Kenya has further enlarged its footprint in schools. They help the schools in their tree planting efforts by providing seedlings and knowledge.
Reforest Action
This is an international NGO that partners with Trees for Kenya to ensure that the Mt Kenya forest is restored after years of senseless deforestation. Since 2012, the government of Kenya has been urging NGOs and communities to plant trees so that they can restore the Mt Kenya National Park. For the past 10 years, they have planted more than 350,000 trees from local Nurseries in the Mount Kenya Forest.
They aim to partner further with Trees for Kenya to develop agroforestry systems with local producers. One amazing proposal they have is involving school children in the planting of trees. They propose that each child be given one tree to take care of and grow with. The child will also be taught how to remove weeds twice a year.
ISLA Kenya
The ISLA Kenya is a program that was founded by IDH Farmfit which is a public-private impact fund for smallholder farmers. The ISLA is a public-private consortium with more than sixteen stakeholders drawn from the private sector, county governments, national government agencies, NGOs and community groups.
The notable members of this consortium are county governments of Nakuru, Bomet and Kericho, KTDA, Kenya Forest Service, Finlays and Unilever.
Together they formed the Stawisha Mau Trust which aims at restoring, protecting and preserving 60,000 hectares of the South West Mau Forest by 2030.
“The focus of the program on conserving and restoring the degraded forest relies on active collaboration with communities to achieve long-term protection of the forest and its resources,” writes ISLA Kenya.
Conclusion
The future of our country is in our hands. If we prioritize establishments and development projects at the expense of our trees and forests, it’s grossly counter-productive. The government has done well to protect the existing forests by establishing Acts of Parliament.
These policies which propose hefty fines to people who cut down trees without proper government approvals will stem the deforestation. But more needs to be done.
NGOs should pool together and bring communities and partners on board. Since there is political will to do so, they should help the government in identifying idle lands. When the government designates these idle lands for tree planting all over the country, we’ll see the restoration of our forest cover. With more stakeholders and with better strategies, we could avert annual cycles of calamity, disaster and despair in these poor, marginalized communities.
The ASAL areas of Kenya make up 89% of the total landmass in the country according to the State Department of the Development of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. People in these areas largely depend on groundwater for their needs. With perennial drought and failed rainfall year in and year out, they trek long distances on foot with jerricans in search of water.
Well-calculated, concerted efforts to engage in reforestation and afforestation in these areas is the way to go. Consider the United Arab Emirates, Israel and other middle eastern successful economies. They are able to sustain themselves despite living in the middle of the wilderness.
Like those countries, it will spur Kenyan ASAL areas’ frail economies because they’ll be in a position to get more reliable supplies of water for irrigation. More schools and hospitals will be built. Animals which are one of these communities’ sources of income will live longer. Ultimately, their mortality rate will increase which will benefit Kenya as a whole.
