Eawls helps pilot natural resources monitoring in four Counties

The East African Wild Life Society (EAWLS) is helping to set up Natural Resource monitoring forums in four of the newly-formed Kenyan counties to empower local residents and stakeholders to take part in any decision-making surrounding their life-giving natural habitat.

With funding from Act Change Transform (ACT!), the four bodies will be set up in Samburu, Laikipia, Nakuru and Kwale, all of which are rich in biodiversity and potential for development.

The development of this project emanated from concern that although the Constitution of Kenya 2010 stipulates some devolution of power to County level, Kenya as a country does not have any experience in running County Governments.

As a start-up to the project, an analysis of organizations thought likely to want to become members of these forums was done in January and February 2012. Stakeholders from the Civil Society Organizations
(CSOs), the Private Sector and the Government have received the idea positively and are willing to be members of these forums.

The level of stakeholder engagement in running county governments remains a new area to many stakeholders and hence the need for them to monitor and actively participate in formulation and implementation of National Legislation and more importantly - County level Legislation. This stakeholder involvement at County level is lacking in all established counties since in most counties, no stakeholder mechanisms have been established to serve this purpose.

Because of little or lack of experience in management of counties and county assemblies, there is a likelihood of some counties copying other county legislation disregarding the county diversity that exists and which should be considered. Such diversity includes people, culture and natural resources.

To address this, and in particular natural resource management (NRM), this project will support a process that will ensure Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Private Sector and Government participation in county legislation on natural resources through formation of CSOs platform known as “County CSOs/Private Sector Natural Resources Management Forums/Networks”. Working through the County Senators at the national level, the CSOs and private sector platform will advocate for laws and policies that are formulated in a participatory, open and consultative manner to address key county NRM issues that would lead to sustainable management of natural resources and alleviate poverty.

The project will also provide an opportunity to address the following challenges and problems:
lack of experience at the national and county level in the two tier devolution levels, limited CSO and private sector capacity to participate in development matters at county level, inadequate public consultations in formulation of development plans, laws, policies and strategies.

The EAWLS will implement this project at County level by applying her experiences from the Kenya Forests Working Group, the Kenya Wetland Forum and the Kenya Wildlife Conservation Forum. These three forums are sub-committees of the EAWLS, two of which have served as platforms for advocacy for over ten years. The approach to this project, therefore, will be to work within the 4 counties and engage natural resource management stakeholders to form active natural resource management networks/forums, learn from them, and replicate and scale up activities in the other counties. Success from this model would provide a good opportunity for other counties stakeholders to form demand  driven networks.

The birth of these forums, however, does not mean the nullification of the already existing sectoral forums in management of natural resources like water, forests, wildlife, minerals and land but rather a holistic approach of addressing all issues concerning the management of all natural resources; a platform that would bring together diverse conservation initiatives and stakeholders.

A synthesis of the findings from the analysis is on-going and will be shared at a workshop planned for March 2012 where representatives from the four counties will come together to formulate modalities of operating the forums as well as setting a criteria for identifying host institutions at county level for the forum’s secretariats.

By Celline Achieng, EAWLS

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Created on Friday, 30 September 2011 06:52

Published on Friday, 30 September 2011 06:52

The EAWLS and Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (TNRF) have been running a joint project funded by the European Community through the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) titled “Monitoring of Wood and Wood Products Trade in Kenya and Tanzania Border Points”. This project started recently and has officially kicked off at three border points (Namanga, Holili/Taveta and Tanga/Lunga Lunga). The project will gather information that will lead to better governance, enforcement of laws and regulation of illegal wood and wood products trade in Kenya and Tanzania.

This project comes at a time when illegal exploitation and trade of wood products as a result of poor policy implementation, inadequate law enforcement, poor governance and lack of accountability is highly contributing to degradation of forests and woodlands in the two countries.

Early last month, we carried out a reconnaissance survey aimed at creating mutual understanding and support among government agencies in the trade at the three border points. This survey will be followed by a study that will inform us of the magnitude of the problem. Findings of the study will be shared out in upcoming issues once we have gathered sufficient information. Of importance to EAWLS and TNRF is the impact of the trade on the ecosystems where wood is coming from, and transparency and accountability in its movement. Continue reading our revamped newsletter and we will inform you of the progress of this project in days to come.

Mazingira Quiz Challenge

    Bomb and Colour as curtains come down on Mazingira quiz  Challenge  2011.

The day was 4th November 2011, that this years' mazingira quiz challenge competition takes place followed by a tree planting session at oloolua forest.Eight universities congegated at KICC-Lenana hall to outsmart each others on 'who knows our environment better?' session that started at 9am and ended 8.30 pm wth prof.Kungu grazing the award ceremony and Nigel Hunter opening this year's competition.

It could have not been any better than it was by hosting of the best universities in the country with brilliant hstudents juggling their minds to answer  questions that were pooled by environment experts from areas like Wetlands. Forestry ,Climate change ,Policy and Wildlife .Among the universities that participated are;Kenyatta University ,University of Nairobi ,African Nazareen University ,Great lakes University ,Maseno university ,Masinde Muliro University  and United States International  University .

The most intersting part came when the defending champions Kenyatta University were eliminated at the first round living room for many questions and  opening the competitiotn to any university to win. The suprise competitor and new comer Masinde Muliro put up a brilliant show taking on competatitors with bravelry  eliminating many huniversities on the way and making it to the finals .

The show that attracted about 200 students, go more interesting with great displays,ethusiasm ,excitement and anxiety filling the room as three universities competed in the finals which was represnted by last year's finalist;university of Nairobi, Masinde muliro and Great lakes universities .After a gruelling mind competition ,  University of Nairobi won the competition followed by Masinde Muliro university and Great lakes University  respectively.

The competition was though  not only based on quizes but also on other areas of environment,Kababrak university won the category of  environmental innovations  innovations while masinde muliro won the category of Mazingira art and Kenyatta university won the essay category.With music, colour and excitemnet,this year's mazingira challenge was the best it ever was. With cash prizes given to winners, phones and other awards,it could not be any better for participants as they danced all they way to a night with music presentations made from one of the best bands in Nairobi -269 band-The competition was sponsored by Tecno phone ltd, Cocacola and major sponsor being UNDP. We are all looking forward to next year's competition.

The little known Boni coastal forest has exceptional abundance of biodiversity consisting of a most varied ecosystem that provides refuge for endangered mammals such as elephants, Hirola and Wild dog. But, as the Kenya Forest Working Group (KFWG) found out when they visited the forest on 4th and 5th April, perceived insecurity, poor infrastructure and remoteness of the region has ensured that the forest is largely unknown to conservationists and scientists with very little conservation effort in place.

The KFWG were on a fact finding mission to the forest in the company of JK Ndambiri, head of the North Eastern Forest Conservancy, as they sought to understand the forest better, facilitate community members in defining threats and articulating realistic and effective conservation strategies, facilitate key stakeholders meeting on Boni forest conservation in Ijara, and enhance community participation in Boni forest biodiversity conservation activities through strengthened collaboration with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), KWS and other local organisations.

Boni forest is an indigenous open canopy coastal mosaic forest which straddles the three Districts of Tana River, Lamu and Ijara in the North Eastern Conservancy. The 1,339 km² forest is administered by Ijara County Council. Boni forest covers a quarter of the Ijara District, stretching all the way to the Eastern part of Lamu District and the Western section of Badaade district of Somalia. It has tree species rarely found in other forests. The common tree species include: Homalium abdessamadii, Croton megalocarpoides, Croton polytrichus, Excoecaria bussei and Cycads Encephalartos hildebrandtii. It has 5 threatened plant species (Dalbergia vacciniifolia, Canthium kilifiense Canthium pseudoverticillatum, Mkilua fragrans, Synsepalum subverticillatum)

The forest has several confirmed wildlife species including Hippopotamus, Aardwolf, buffalo, Bush pig, Bush buck, Caracal, Cheetah, Generuk, Grant’s gazelle, Honey badger, Black-backed jackal, Kirk’s dik dik, Leopard, Lesser kudu, Lion, Oribi, Porcupine, Red duiker, Spotted hyena, squirrels, Topi, Vervet monkeys, Yellow baboon, elephants, Warthog, Waterbuck, Wild dog and zebra.

Vital ecosystems in the area are not properly conserved and managed. Instead they are being seriously degraded at a high economical and ecological cost. Due to increased human population and settlement, there are conflicts arising in the wildlife, agriculture, and forestry sectors. In the newly settled areas, parcels of land are cleared causing localized fuel wood shortages as well as soil exposure and erosion. Export of timber from indigenous tree species for the construction and furniture industries within and outside Ijara continues to exert pressure on the forest resource. Trees such as Brachystagia huilliensis (Muhugu), Combretum schumanii (Mkongolo) and Dalbergia melanoxylon (Mpingo) from Boni forest are the primary raw material for the woodcarving

industry which is a vital element of the coastal tourism sector.

Community and conservation

Living adjacent to Boni forest is the Boni community which has traditionally gathered food, medicine, building materials and fuel from the forest. Once hunter-gatherers, the Boni now depend more on subsistence cultivation, livestock and harvesting wild plants and honey. Agriculture is however a new way of life to the Boni who have been cut-off from their traditional source of livelihood. Since both their traditional and new livelihood options are natural resources based, it’s important that these livelihoods means are sustainably managed. Not much is being done in this line.

Despite its importance to biodiversity, Boni

forest is under threat due to inadequate knowledge of functions of its biodiversity, the actual boundaries of Boni Forest are unknown, Illegal harvesting of indigenous trees, and the search for indigenous hardwood driven by the high demand for timber in the building and construction industry especially boat making. The indigenous t

rees are also valued as building poles and timber for furniture. They include indigenous species locally known as Mpepechu, Mbabakofi, Mwangati, Mvule among others. Unscrupulous traders used to deploy their workers inside the remote areas of the forest where the timber was secretly harvested and transported to Lamu.

Another threat to this forest is bush fires started by honey gatherers and livestock owners for pests control and pasture improvement. Bush fires often spread across a large area indiscriminately burning forest biodiversity, thereby affecting the regeneration of some vegetation species. This often leads to degradation of the habitat and expansion of grassland at the expense of the woody plants. Bush fires were evident in various places. Stakeholders met during the fact finding mission said wild fires are rampant during the dry season. Other threats

include cattle influx in the forest, deforestation and degradation of forest, Human

wildlife conflict, lack of a management plan and lack of legal protection.

What can be done?

KFWG recommends that the gazettement of Boni Forest be fast tracked to give the forest legal protection. This should go hand in hand with awareness creation on environmental conservation focusing on coastal forests and     quick establishment of community forest associations (CFAs) to help monitor and conserve the forest. Basic knowledge on biodiversity, functional nature of the forest and watershed, local patterns of drainage and rainfall and the relationships between forest and people should be enhanced. Alternative sustainable community livelihood options should also be explored.

Overall, Boni is a critical biodiversity area and con

certed efforts involving the community, government and other organizations are needed to mitigate against threats to the forest. Importantly, traditional and modern livelihood options for the community need to be sustainably managed in order to maintain the integrity of the resource.