Saving Kenya's only remaining tropical rain forest begins

Rhino Ark Charitable Trust executive director Christian Lambrechts on Wednesday said efforts to protect Kenya's only tropical rainforest are underway.

Actual construction work will begin in a few weeks.

The Kakamega forest is said to be the last remnant of the ancient Guinea-Congolian rainforest that once stretched across the continent.

Two other tropical rain forests remain. One in Uganda and one in the DRC, once all part of the same tropical belt.

Kenya Forestry Research Institute director Dr Joshua Cheboiwo says Kakamega forest is the extension of the tropical Congo Basin lowland high rainfall forest.

A rainforest is an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall.

Cheboiwo said the forest was formed because of high rains in the lowlands.

He said other forests found in the country are Montane forests.

"Kakamega forest is the only one in Kenya," he said.

Lambrechts said funds from the United Nations Development Programme were used to secure the materials.

The Rhino Ark Charitable Trust seeks to address the main challenges affecting Kenya Mountain Forests that are today best known as Kenya water towers.

The trust has been rolling out some of its initiatives in key water towers in the country, such as Mount Kenya and Mau Eburu.

Lambrechts said the unsustainable exploitation of the Kakamega forest is threatened by the unsustainable exploitation of the forest, as well as encroachments.

“The Muileshi Community Forest Association came to us requesting protection of the forest resources as it faced threats from unsustainable exploitation as well as encroachment,” Lambrechts said.

The participatory forest management model in Kenya was adopted through the previous Forests Act, of 2005, as a forest management tool.

The aim was to engage forest-adjacent communities and other stakeholders in the co-management of forests in a way that benefits communities.

The framework was later enhanced in the Forest Conservation and Management Act of 2016 to promote equitable community participation in forest management.

The communities adjacent to forest resources form and register Community Forest Associations (CFAs) and develop a Participatory Forest Management Plan. It is executed through the signing of a Forest Management Agreement between the Kenya Forest Service and the CFA.

The engagement of CFAs has helped to increase the forest cover in some counties.

Forest laws also allow CFAs with various forest user rights, such as firewood collecting and controlled grazing.

The CFAs are also involved in reforestation and rehabilitation programmes. These entail the establishment of tree nurseries, planting and other silvicultural (forest management) operations through contractual engagements.

Lambrechts said they have already secured an environmental impact assessment study.

An EIA is a critical examination of the effects of a project on the environment.

It identifies both negative and positive impacts of any development activity or project, and how it affects people, their property and the environment.

The EIA also identifies measures to mitigate the negative impacts, while maximising the positive ones.

If a proper EIA is carried out, then the safety of the environment can be properly managed at all stages of a project — planning, design, construction, operation, monitoring and evaluation as well as decommissioning.

Lambrechts said the formal launch of the construction work will be done in February.

He said the community and the political leadership from both Kakamega and Vihiga have been involved in all the stages of the planned work.

“The local community will provide unskilled labour and will also help us in maintaining the fence,” Lambrechts said.

He said said the community user rights will be protected.

Gates will be put in place and manned.

Some of the user rights include firewood collection, grazing, collection of medicinal herbs and beekeeping.

The construction representing about 13 per cent of the 117km fence is scheduled to start in a few weeks, Lambrechts said.

He said the electric fence will have 11 strands and will both be connected to the grid as well as solar panels in areas where the grid is not available.

Lambrechts said in areas with burrowing animals, mesh wire will be used.

Some of the partners in the project include UNDP, NETFund, the Kakamega and Vihiga county governments, KFS and KWS.

Time has stood still for the Kakamega Forest, a remnant of the rain forest that stretched across Central Africa.

Some of the key features of the forest include the viewpoint from Buyangu Hill with the awesome overview of the surrounding forest that is impressive at sunrise and the lovely Isiukhu falls.

This beautiful Kakamega forest is home to various mammals including bush pigs, giant forest hedgehogs, Colobus monkeys, Debrazzar monkeys and pottos, which are slow-moving,tree-dwelling, primates sometimes called slowly-slowly or tree bears.

Birds include the blue-headed bee eater, black-billed turaco, turner’s eremomela and grey parrots. Bird watching, hiking and rock climbing can be enjoyed in the serenity of the forest.

The forest hosts several hundreds of species of birds, snakes, monkeys, bushbucks, duikers (small forest antelopes), countless tree species and natural glades.

The forest also has a giant tree on Mukangu trails and has more than 380 species of trees, 330 species of birds, 27 species of snakes, seven primates species, more than 400 species of butterflies and a number of mammals. 

(Edited by V. Graham)