Taita Taveta seeks to restore degraded landscapes to combat climate change

This has accelerated soil erosion, biodiversity loss and reduced water flow.

Many small-scale farmers are grappling with the adverse effects of climate change due to environmental degradation.

The devolved unit has come up with a landscape restoration plan to reclaim the degraded ecosystems.

The county is banking on a strategic framework established under the Forest and Landscape Restoration Implementation Plan (Folarep) 2023-32.

“The plan seeks to enhance resilient socioeconomic development, improve ecological functioning and contribute to achieving national and international aspirations and obligations, respectively,” water executive Grantone Mwandawiro said.

Folarep will address the drivers of the ecosystem and landscape degradation, and restore degraded forests, rangelands, wetlands, catchments, croplands and agricultural landscapes.

Other areas, in the plan, include woodlands, riparian areas, watersheds, road reserves, forest lands and urban areas.

The ambitious plan aims to restore 226,420 hectares ( 559,496 acres) of degraded forests and landscapes by 2032.

Trees play a crucial role in reversing climate change through carbon sequestration, a process where they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their biomass.

“The Folarep document will serve as a guide in implementing restoration efforts of 226,420ha of degraded landscapes and help in attracting climate financing,” Mwandawiro said.

It will also improve biodiversity, enhanced cultural values and climate change resilience.

This will boost the county’s tree cover from eight per cent and 3.4 per cent forest cover to 30 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

The plan implementation will also contribute to achieving 30 per cent national tree cover by 2050, up from the current 12.38 per cent.

It will contribute to the fulfilment of international obligations, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change, the United Nations Forum on Forests, the Bonn Challenge and the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative. The formulation process of the plan by the technical working group is in its final stages.

“The draft Folarep is set to be presented to the Cabinet and the county assembly before receiving the governor’s assent,” Mwandawiro told the Star.

Governor Andrew Mwadime has said Folarep will heal the degraded land.

To develop and implement the plan, the devolved unit has partnered with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization-Kenya, the United Kingdom- Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transition, Centre for International Forestry Research, the World Agroforestry Centre and Africa Wildlife Foundation.

County director of climate change John Mlamba said the plan is crucial in promoting inclusive landscape restoration and implementing evidence-based recommendations to reduce emissions.

The department will rope in other players for a successful implementation.

“By reducing the effects of global warming and greenhouse emissions, the plan aims to positively impact residents,” Mlamba said.

The director said the plan has incorporated a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to promote an effective, efficient and inclusive ecosystem restoration strategy.

Robin Chacha, a research associate at ICRAF, said the team is domesticating the Folarep conservation approach to counties.

Chacha said they have identified restoration potential in Makueni and Taita Taveta counties that would lead to massive restoration of ecosystems.

He said the restoration plan presents a unique opportunity for counties to implement climate change policies, using gender-transformative and socially inclusive activities to address issues of land degradation, climate change, food insecurity and inequality.

“This plan will have the ecosystem function restored. Communities that live around forests will benefit from forest products, which will enhance their livelihoods,” Chacha said.

This will enable the communities to take part in the management and conservation of forests.

The researcher hailed this as a significant milestone towards landscape restoration and reduced emissions.

He urged community members to intercrop fruit trees and indigenous varieties for better outcomes.

The plan will advance the President’s agenda to grow 15 billion trees by 2032.

Khalil Walji, the deputy coordinator at ICRAF, said the project will rely on data as a key implementation driver.

“The conversation we are having with the county officials and stakeholders is to understand that if we utilise data well, it will enable us to make better decisions,” he said.

“Data should be used in policy making for various landscape restoration such that strategies are done from a scientific point of view.”

Walji said the team has developed an application that enables conservationists to make informed decisions.

The Regreening Africa App is a mobile-based android application that allows users to collect data at farm level on a range of land restoration practices.

“The app engages farmers and implementers to track and amplify successful restoration practices on the ground through assisted citizen science data collection,” Walji said.

He said the plan will improve synergy in policy formulation and implementation of the restoration agenda.

“This initiative focuses on delivering nature-based outcomes through strengthened policy implementation, institutional capacity and enhanced monitoring and reporting of the forest and landscape restoration in Kenya,” Walji said.