How Kaptagat Forest restoration overcame hurdles in last 10 years

A conservation project that has witnessed an equal measure of successes and hurdles is marking ten years.

Implementers of the Kaptagat Integrated Conservation Programme, which covers Kaptagat, Kipkabus, Benon, Sabor and Kessup and forest blocks in Elgeyo Marakwet, said the project overcame a myriad of challenges as it sought to restore a water catchment area that is a source of water for Eldoret City and the drought-prone Kerio Valley.

According to the programme founder, Treasury Principal Secretary (PS) Dr Chris Kiptoo, a multi-agency implementing team is kicking off the next ten-year phase of the project after picking crucial lessons since its inauguration in 2017.

From rejection by locals pushing to graze thousands of cows in the depleted forest to alleged blackmail by illegal loggers and to women who want free access to firewood, the restoration project faced hurdles.

Dr Kiptoo said during the Kaptagat Cycling challenge and 10km corporate fun run on Saturday that another ambitious ten-year restoration plan is set for a launch this weekend.

The PS said the forest restoration project will be driven by enhanced community engagement in the next decade.

“We have been coming here for the last ten years to plant trees, but we have not carried the local community along with us for a long time until we discovered that we need to go back to them. The people wanted to understand what the programme was all about,” Dr Kiptoo said.

The restoration exercise culminated in the fencing of the 20,000-hectare water tower by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) – a project that began early in May. A section of locals had opposed the project, but Dr Kiptoo said community engagement yielded results.

“I took the initiative to go back to the villages to tell them that we are conserving the forest and address the reasons why you go to the forest. It became apparent that locals went to the forest to derive livelihoods,” said Dr Kiptoo. The PS added: “Locals did not want anything that took away their livelihoods. We started by looking for alternatives to what pushed people into forests.

With the help of partners, gas cylinders were introduced and several women stopped going to the forest to collect firewood.

“Introduction of dairy cattle breeds prevented more livestock farmers from grazing cows in the forest. Some farmers are using animal waste to produce biogas. Farmers were sensitised on having fewer productive cows under zero grazing, and which produce an average of 25 litres of milk per day – a move he says reduced overgrazing in degraded sections of the forest.” He said the next ten years will be a tapestry of partnerships involving the implementers of conservation, local communities and financiers while encapsulating sports.

Kenyan cyclists and their foreign counterparts from Eritrea and other countries took part in a hotly contested sporting event in the forest on Saturday, a week before the Kaptagat marathon on Saturday, July 11.

Kentra Masika, who claimed victory in the women’s cycling race, said competing in the forest promotes conservation through awareness. Mining PS Harry Kimutai said he was spearheading a similar model in the Mt Elgon ecosystem.

“You can’t remove the people from livelihoods such as livestock keeping. The strategy is to give them productive livestock which occupy less space while producing more milk. Without introducing alternatives, it becomes difficult to conserve forests,” Kimutai said during the Kaptagat event.

Forestry PS Gitonga Mugambi said the KFS was running 32 conservation projects borrowed from the Kaptagat restoration model. Mugambi said over 1.7 billion have been grown in efforts to restore other degraded forests.

“There are fewer illegalities in our forests because of conservation campaigns,” he said. Keiyo South MP Gideon Kimaiyo said communities living adjacent to Kaptagat forest were beginning to appreciate conservation following enhanced sensitisation.

“There was a lot of opposition at first, but locals have appreciated the forest conservation efforts. We can still conserve a forest and still derive our livelihoods from it,” said Kimaiyo.

He said conservation at Benon forest block has been the most successful and that President William Ruto is expected to assess the successes on Saturday, July 11.