The Friends of Karura started managing Karura Forest in 2010 and now 40,000 Kenyans visit the forest every month. Citizens pay Sh100 to enter the forest for one day.
The revenue is used to pay the forest rangers, maintain the trails and protect the fence.
According to the Friends of Karura Community Forest Association, the forest was too dangerous to enter before it was fenced in 2010, adding that some sections of the forest had also been grabbed.
In 2019, the National Land Commission revoked 151 illegally acquired title deeds.
In 2015, the KFS complained to the commission about encroachment on the forest.
Between 1994 and 1999, an estimated 2,000 acres of Karura was illegally hived off and sold.
Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai fought to stop plots from being excised from Karura in the 1990s.
However, the forest has become a victim of its own success with KFS seeking to have a share of the gate fees earned by the community forest association.
KFS has set up around 100 CFAs for local communities to manage public forests sustainably since 2005.
Prof Karanja Njoroge, the former chairperson of Friends of Karura, downplayed the dispute with KFS.
"The chief conservator of forests is in the joint management committee. There is no expenditure without the signature of KFS," Karanja said, adding that revenue is utilised according to an annual budget approved by the board of KFS.
Dr Winnie Kiiru, the current Karura CFA chairperson, said they have a 20-year joint management plan with KFS.
“We have given the budget to KFS and it has been approved,” Dr Kiiru said.
She, however, did not reveal the amount that has been approved.
Dr Kiiru said more 100 people have been employed to work in the forest, noting that Karura remains a model CFA as a result of the dedication of her team.
However, KFS is angry that the CFA collects up to Sh20 million monthly.
“KFS should take control because why should the money go to another body,” said a KFS source. “Public resources are being diverted to a private entity.”
The agency is struggling to meet its financial obligations and owes Sh4 billion to the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Karura forest is in the centre of Nairobi. It is one of the largest gazetted urban forests in the world, and offers eco-friendly opportunities for visitors.
It is managed jointly by Friends of Karura and KFS.
Tree species in the forest include Olea, Croton megalocarpus, Muthiga, Cedar, Salvadora persica, Mugumo and Dombeya.
The mandate of KFS is to protect, conserve and manage state forests but it has been struggling to meet its financial obligations since a ban on logging was instituted in 2018.
However, the President William Ruto-led government has indicated that it will partially lift the ban.
KFS has 335,000 acres of gazetted plantations in Mt Kenya, Aberdares, Mau Forest Complex, Cherangani Hills and Mt Elgon.
Other urban forests in Nairobi include City Park and Ngong Road forests.
