Communities' attitudes and perceptions towards the status, use and management of Kapolet Forest Reserve in Kenya (original) (raw)
2020, International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation
Forest communities play a vital role in the conservation of forest resources. Understanding communities' use, attitudes and perceptions of forests and management measures is significant in attaining conservation goals and reducing forest resource use conflicts. This study sought to assess local community' forest resources use and their perception towards forest status, use and management. Data was collected through household surveys using semi-structured questionnaires, participant observation, Key Informant Interviews (KII), and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). A total of 112 respondents from three adjacent villages within 5 km from the forest boundary were randomly sampled for the household survey while descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Most (94.6%) of the households reported using products from forests. These products formed an integral part of the households' energy needs, construction materials, medicine, income generation and daily dietary needs. Firewood was the most collected product from the forest (76.4%) whereas bush meat was the least (4.7%). There were mixed views on the forest management with more than half (54.5%) expressing dissatisfaction with the current management regime citing insecure land tenure system, inadequate integration of the community in forest management and corruption. There was perceived forest degradation due to illegal logging, illegal grazing, forest fires, climate change and encroachment for farming. For sustainable forest management practice therefore, there is a need for incorporating Indigenous knowledge (IK) in forest management plans and putting in place grievance address mechanisms to cater for the needs of local communities when designing forest policies and implementing forest restoration programs.
Related papers
Social science and indigenous ecological knowledge in Kakamega Forest, Western Kenya
2016
There is ample evidence in literature that indigenous knowledge, practices and beliefs often contribute to conservation and in some cases enhance local biodiversity. As a result there has been renewed interest in the use of indigenous knowledge, especially in forest management and conservation. Despite the renewed interest, incorporation of indigenous ecological knowledge in natural resource planning and management remains elusive. Using focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews, the study gives an account of the beliefs, practices and norms that have been used for conservation by the adjacent community of Kakamega Forest over the years. The study also highlights the implications of successive forest management regimes on the use of resources and indigenous ecological knowledge. Results indicate that the local community applied various beliefs, practices and norms to regulate use of Kakamega Forest. However, the advent of forest management regimes has brought resource use restrictions which often neglect indigenous ecological knowledge. This study provides key intervention strategies important for enhancing the complementary functions of indigenous ecological knowledge and forest management objectives.
MA International Studies, 2014
Environmental sustainability has become increasingly important as we witness more extreme weather changes, global warming and environmental degradation. As the world population grow the need for more resources increase and forest resource is one of the public good which is adversely affected. The increasing industrial activities over the years do not consider the resulting environmental degradation such as water, air and land pollution. Many ecosystems have been affected to the point where they can no longer withstand or recover from disasters resulting from human activities. Sustainable forest management encompasses the administrative, legal, technical, economic, social and environmental aspects of the conservation and use of forests. Therefore there is need to increase forest cover and reduce forest destruction and degradation in Kenya. The Government has recognized the critical role to be played by forest-adjacent communities in ensuring that forest cover in Kenya increases from the current two percent to the recommended ten percent. The local communities constitute the core of these actors. Where the local communities depend heavily on forest resources, their involvement in forest management is essential and without effective mechanisms and strategies to ensure local level participation in forest management, there cannot be sustainability of forest resources. This study interrogates environmental sustainability in respect to community participation in forest management in Kenya and suggests policy recommendations on the best strategies to be implemented for environmental sustainability and forest management in Kenya.
Journal of ecology and the natural environment, 2017
Forest ecosystems are important to ecological, economic and social wellbeing, particularly for the adjacent communities who depend on it. Understanding the socioeconomic dynamics that make households choice to be involved in forest conservation is crucial for sustainable management of natural resources. This study therefore examined the socioeconomic factors that influenced households’ participation in forest management. Multistage probability sampling technique was used to select 202 respondents from households adjacent to Aberdare forest ecosystem. Data collected was analysed using Chi-square test, Spearman’s rho correlation and multinomial logistic regression. The factors that influenced participatory forest management included forest management approach (χ² = 17.551, p < 0.001), distance to the forest reserve (χ² = 29.071, p < 0.001), distance to the national park (χ² = 27.303, p = 0.008), gender of household head (χ² = 10.719, p = 0.002), land tenure (χ² = 34.313, p < ...
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.