1 TOWARDS PARTICIPATORY FOREST

A critique of The Forest Conservation and Management Bill 2014
TOWARDS PARTICIPATORY FOREST MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION –
OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS
SUMMARY
T
he forestry sector has over the years been faced by a myriad of challenges including ; excision of state
forest land, indiscriminative destruction of natural forests, poaching of rare species, weak governance
structures, and lack of resources to regulate, police and protect the forests, lack of incentives to enhance
communities participation and the duplication of laws and regulations. In 2007, the Forest Act 2005 was enacted
into law leading to many progressive changes such as the inclusion of communities living adjacent to the forests.
This was done through the establishment of Community Forest Associations (CFAs) and Forest Conservancy
Committees (FCCs) at the local and regional level respectively. Despite the change in policy and regulations little
has been achieved towards the improvement of use, management and governance of the forest resources. The
Constitution of Kenya chapter 5, part 2 deals with environment and natural resources. It outlines the obligations
of the national government in respect of environmental issues. The Kenya Forest Act has so far been revised and
aligned to the Kenyan Constitution under the Forest Conservation and Management Bill 2014. The management
of forests and other operations are informed by other policies/legislation including, the Forest policy 2014, the
Kenya Forestry Master Plan and the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act of 1999.
K
enya has a total land area of 56.914
million hectares and her population
in 2009 census was about 40 million
people. The forest area is estimated at about 37.6
million hectare; rural areas occupy about 90% of the
country forest and although some forest areas such as
those found in Siaya County are poor in density, species
diversity and growth rate, they form an important
source of livelihood to rural communities, providing
most of their tree fodder, firewood and charcoal. They
also provide a whole range of additional non-wood
forest products. The total forest area under protection
currently stands at 3% of Kenya’s land area according
to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural
Resource. This figure is far below the internationally
accepted average of at least 10% of a country’s land
area being under forest cover. The Government is
therefore putting into place measures to bring the
forest area to at least 10% by the year 2030.
The Forest Conservation and Management
Bill 2014 establishes a service known as Kenya Forest
Service and contains many innovative means of
forest management, including a strong emphasis on
partnerships, the engagement of local communities,
and promotion of private investment aimed at
correcting previous shortcomings. The overall
spirit of Forests Management and Conservation Bill
is devolution of authority and responsibilities in
management of forest, and promotion of partnership
through increased access of benefits to the
communities.
The
constitution
has
also
spread
implementation of specific national government
policies on natural resources and environmental
conservation including forestry to the county
government. It also emphasizes public participation
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in the management, protection and conservation of for the proper and efficient management of forests. A
the environment.
Forest Conservation Committee (FCC) is established
with the following functions;
This paper presents a discussion on the
participation of local communities in the management 1.Advising the board on the peoples’ ideas, plans and
of forests in Kenya as provided for within the Forest
desires on matters relating to the conservation and
Conservation and Management Bill.
utilization of forests
2.Monitor the implementation of the Forest
Conservation and Management Act
3.Review and recommend the applications for licenses
and renewal
4.Monitor the management of public forests in
relevant conservancy areas
enya Forest Service is a State 5.Identify and recommend areas for the creation of
public forests
Corporation established in February
2007 under the Forest Act, 2005
In addition to the forest conservation
to conserve develop and sustainably manage forest resources for Kenya’s social-economic development. Committee (FCC), the Bill also establishes a
Part II Section 7 of the Forest Conservation and County Forest Conservation Committee (CFC).
Management Bill 2014, outlines the function of Kenya These committees are established per county. The
county committees are responsible for advising the
Forest Service which includes;
• Conserving, protecting and managing all public county governments on the desire of the people,
forests, preparing and implementing management monitoring the implementation of the Act and other
plans for all public forests, assessing applications for forest regulations within the county, ensuring fair
the use of forests and forest resources, establishing distribution of benefits derived from the resources in
community forest among others (see part II section
and implementing benefit sharing arrangements,
21).
• Assist County Governments to build capacity for
forestry development on community and private
lands; develop programmes for tourism and for
recreational and ceremonial use of public forests;
ection 46 (1) of the Bill empowers the
• Promote forestry education and training, register
Service (KFS) or the County Department
and maintain a register of all management plans
responsible
for
forestry,
upon
on public land, identify research needs and apply application and approval to enter into an agreement
research findings, mange water catchment areas, with any person, institution or organization, for part
enforce the provisions of the Forest Bill,
or entire forest under its jurisdiction. It state that
• Train prosecutors for purposes of prosecuting court “The Service or the County Department responsible
cases under the forest bill, prepare a forest status for forestry may, upon application by any person,
report and a resource Assessment report after every institution of organization, and after the approval
by the Service or County Department responsible for
two and five years respectively.
forestry has been obtained, enter into an appropriate
The KFS shall be managed by a board which management agreement for all or part of any forest
shall be responsible for the efficiency and functionality within its jurisdiction.”
K
S
of the KFS (Part II, Section9). The board is also accorded
responsibility to establish Forest Conservancy areas
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Section 49 (1) provides for community
forest association as precursor for community direct
participation in conservation and to some extent
participating in implementation of the forest Act per
se. The association is expected to apply to the Service
or the County Department responsible for forestry
for permission to participate in the conservation
and management of a public or community forest
respectively after CFA’s are registered under society
Act (cap 108); however there is a caveat that no
application to the Director under this subsection be
made where there is an existing prior agreement or
license. (See section 49 subsection 2) The management
agreement between the Director and the association
may confer forest user rights such as ecotourism and
recreation, harvesting of honey, collection of herbs,
harvesting of timber and firewood, contracts to assist
in carrying out cultural operations and development
of community wood and non wood industries among
others.
consultation is required for Joint Forest management
Agreements, variation of boundaries or revocation of
public forests among others. (See section 35).
Another Key avenue for community
involvement in decision-making is the Forest
Conservation Committee (FCC). The FCC has
representation from major stakeholders such as
community forest associations, forest industries, Civil
Society organizations, County Chief officer and the
forest officer. The FCC communicates opinions of
the communities to the board on forest issues, and is
involved in day-today forestry decision-making at the
conservancy level. This provides an avenue through
which locals interests in national forest issues will find
an expression at the forest board. The committee also
must approve major decisions such as alteration of
forest boundaries and applications for private forest
development incentives before the board (Section 20).
Another opportunity for communities’ involvement
In return for these and other benefits; the in forest management and decision making is the
community forest associations will protect, conserve County Forest Conservation Committee (CFCC).
and manage, formulate and implement forest
Like the FCC the CFCC also has representation
programmes, with the approval of the board or the from key stakeholders including the community
county department responsible for forestry, enter forest association, forest industries, CSOs. In addition
into partnership with other persons for sustainable to this technical experts within the county such as
conservation and management of the forest, inform county chief officer responsible for agriculture and the
the relevant authorities, help in fire fighting among Ecosystem Conservator responsible for public forest
in the county are part of the team.
others.
A
Key opportunity under the Bill
is the requirement for intensive
stakeholder
participation
in
decision-making. The Bill requires public consultation
for all major forest decisions under the Second
schedule, and prescribes an elaborate procedure for
the public to present various issues before decisions
are made and published. Among others, public
The bill also creates opportunity for the public
to participate in the development of guidelines on
incentive and benefits sharing. (See section 55, 4).
T
he
Forest
Conservation
and
Management Bill 2014, appreciates
the need to strengthen communities’
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participation in forest management by creation
of Community Forest Association (CFA) and an
elaborate consultative process. It has also put into place
other devolved structures such as the County Forest
Committee as well as enshrined the inclusion of other
state organs such as the National Land Commission in
forest management.
Through the CFA the public can actively be
involved in forest conservation and management.
A key aspect of the forest bill is a greater emphasis
on involving stakeholders through participatory
management mechanisms in the management and
conservation of forests. It is important to note that
the current direction in the bill has recognized
that forestry contributes to poverty reduction,
employment and improvement of livelihoods through
forest management. Participatory Forest Management
(PFM) requires all partners to pull together their
diversity to capture the interest of all stakeholders.
Resources’ sharing is necessary as a means of
facilitating, developing and sustaining partnerships
in forest management. Generally, The Bill is a great
step towards sustainable forest management in Kenya;
it however needs to be enacted and enforced for
Kenyans to benefit from its provisions.
Published By:
RECONCILE,
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