In a bid to rehabilitate 1,700 hectares of degraded sections of Mount Kenya Forest in Kirinyaga, Kenya Forest Services Department has partnered with Community Forest Association groups, to plant and protect trees in the area.
The initiative, under Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS), will help in increasing forest cover in Kirinyaga by involving communities living near forests.
The programme will see rehabilitation of degraded 1,400 hectares of forest, where the Kenya Forest Services (KFS) will partner with residents, to rehabilitate and in return residents will be allowed to cultivate maize and graze their livestock, as part of conservation under specific arrangements.
According to Kirinyaga County Forest Chief Conservator, Kenneth Muturi, the programme will also see restocking of 300 hectares of forest, which was harvested in 2012.
“We know part of economy of Kirinyaga people is timber industry and we need those plantations, to offer jobs to people,” he said.
Speaking at Kimunye, Kirinyaga County, during the launch of Five Participatory Forest Management Plans with different Community Forest Associations in a bid to conserve natural resources in Kirinyaga, Kenya Forest Services Deputy Chief Conservator, Beatrice Mbula, said that all forests will be managed through agreement with communities.
Mbula said that under PELIS programme, residents living near forest will be allowed to cultivate and graze their livestock under strict rules and regulations in partnership with Kenya forest officers.
“We have rules and guidelines governing all our programmes, we shall strictly implement grazing hours from 6am to 6pm, some of you want to leave their livestock in forest overnight which has brought misunderstanding,” she said
Mbula says that the residents will also be allowed to collect firewood as the department pushes for clean energy by 2028.
She added that signing of agreements with five Community Forest Associations will play a critical role in improving the ecosystems of forest and empowering residents in terms of food security through planting of maize and grazing their livestock.
Kabare Ward Member of the County Assembly (MCA), Isaiah Mbogo, says that residents living near the forest have been champions of conservation and should be issued with a special use license to benefit with the forests.
Rainforest Alliance Director, Dida Wario, says that under the programme the Association will enlarge the covering area across the Mr. Kenya region, noting that the rehabilitation programme has been extended up to 2026, where they have included Laikipia County in the initiative to improve forest cover around Mt Kenya region.
By Mutai Kipngetich
