State bodies launch joint forest management plan for next decade

By Francis Ontomwa

Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service have launched a ten-year joint management plan for the conservation of the Kakamega tropical rainforest ecosystem.

The decade long plan is expected to provide an integrative framework for management with guidelines on conservation and management of the forest up to 2022.

Commissioning the plan, KFS Senior Deputy Director for Support Services Monica Kalenda and KWS Senior Officer Robert Muasya hailed the initiative, saying it was a major step towards protecting the rainforest, the only one in East Africa.

Mrs Kalenda challenged stakeholders to put the management plan into operation, adding that it was of no use if it remained just on paper.

“It is one thing to have the management plan and it is another to put its contents into operation. We want to see the plan implemented to help protect this precious forest,” said Kalenda.

 Kakamega County Commissioner Albert Kobia observed that public participation was important in the conservation plan.

“The community owns the forest and, therefore, we want to see them taking an active role in the conservation,” he said.

The plan, which has been described as a practical tool, is expected to help coordinating and integrating management of natural resources in the Kakamega forest ecosystem.

The Kakamega Forest ecosystem covers distinct forest management units of Kakamega Forest Reserve, Kibiri Forest in Vihiga District, Yala River, Isecheno, Malava and Bunyala nature reserves.

“We anticipate that the plan will provide a mechanism for increasing accountability of protected areas in reference to the identified targets and performance standards to be attained during the implementation of the plan,” stated Mwai Muraguri, the Kakamega County Forest Coordinator.

Central in the plan are the zone scheme and five management programmes that include ecological, tourism and forest resource management.