By Joshua Koskei
The Rumuruti forest comprised of
15,378 acres of indigenous high altitude forest, located in Laikipia County is
a home to amazing wildlife and an important water catchment area. It is also
the primary source of income for over 5,000 households.
The forest has rare tree species such
as Pencil Cedar Olea Africana podocarpus and
the Blue Gum tree. It is inhabited by a large population of elephants,
buffalos, hyenas and dick dick among other wild animals. It is surrounded by diverse
communities in the six administrative sub-locations of Laikipia West
constituency among the ethnicities are Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Turkana and Samburu.
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| Part of Rumuruti Forest |
In recent years, the forest has faced
over exploitation due to the high demand for forest products, Wildlife populations
have also been reduced significantly due to poaching.
The Forest Act (2005) provides for
joint biodiversity conservation and protection of adjacent forest resources by
communities and external agencies. It is in this spirit that Rumuruti Forest
Association (RFA) was founded under the leadership of Dickson Kamau. The Association
was registered in 2008 and acquired a Forest Management Agreement in 2011.
The agreement binds community members
with the Government through the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and other partners
to manage and conserve forest resources using a forest management plan that the
Association developed in 2008. It is based on the Participatory Forest Management
(PFM) approach.
The activities of RFA include: rehabilitation;
joint forest patrols and; livelihood improvement programs. These programs contribute
to changing community attitude towards natural resources and uplifting their
economic status. The Association also owns a tree nursery that produces at
least 80,000 indigenous tree seedlings and around 50,000 exotic species.
To mitigate climate change, the
Association is carrying out conservation activities with support from the UNDP
GEF SGP. The project activities include bee keeping, charcoal briquettes
production and ecotourism aimed at reducing forest wood charcoal demand.
The Association has forged
partnerships with KFS, Kenya Wildlife Service and the local administration
among other stakeholders. So far over 10 hectares of the forest have been
rehabilitated. Additionally, illegal logging has been eliminated through weekly
joint patrols. The PFM approach creates a platform for stakeholder
participation in conservation of resources.
Joshua Koskei is the Manager at Rumuruti Forest Association. He can be
reached through; koskeijk@gmail.com
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