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Kenya's Forests

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b) Importance of Kenya’s forests
Kenya’s forests play many important roles: they trap and store rain water; regulate river flow and prevent flooding; help recharge ground water tables; improve soil fertility; reduce soil erosion and sediment load in river water; help regulate local climate conditions; and, act as carbon reservoirs and sinks. They also serve as cultural, ceremonial and recreational sites and provide a variety of wood and non-wood products.

The crucial role in soil and water conservation provide strong linkages with agriculture and tourism, which are the mainstay of the national economy. The agricultural sector contributes 30 percent of the GDP and provides the main livelihood for about 80 percent of the population. It employs 70 percent of the labour force, provides a large portion of the national food requirements and is a major source of export earnings.

Forests are major habitats of wildlife - an important feature for the tourism industry. Forests play a critical role in water catchment for the country. Close to three-quarters of Kenya’s electricity is derived from hydropower. Forests contribute to the availability of water for electrical power generation, especially because of their role as water catchments and in reducing siltation of hydroelectric dams. About 71 percent of the domestic energy consumed in the country comes from wood. Out of the 20 million cubic meters of fuelwood consumed annually, 95 percent is collected from forests and rangelands (MENR, 1994).

Many forests are traditionally important for cultural ceremonies and as sacred sites to local communities, and specific tree species have cultural values. It is estimated that 530,000 forest-adjacent households (which amount to 2.9 million people living within five kilometres from forests) derive direct benefits from indigenous closed-canopy forests. This amounts to 10 percent of Kenya’s population (Wass, 1995). Estimates indicate that in some areas, the forestry sector contributes about 70 percent of the forest adjacent households’ cash income (Wass, 1995).