| dc.description.abstract | In the past, management of forests in Kenya laid emphasis on protection through command and control system with minimal participation of other stakeholders. Upon the realization that it was only by involving the communities that there can be sustainability in the management of the forests, Kenya embraced Participatory Forest Management (PFM) as an approach towards achieving sustainable forest management as well as a means of improving the livelihoods of the forest adjacent communities. Despite PFM having been in place for fourteen years, there was still a lot of misgiving as to whether the PFM approach contributed to the livelihoods of the Kereita forest adjacent communities as was envisaged during its adoption.
To this end, a study on the influence of participatory forest management on the livelihoods of forest adjacent communities in Kereita Forest Station of Kiambu district was carried out. The study objectives were to: establish the extent to which the attitudes of forest adjacent communities towards PFM affected their livelihoods; investigate opportunities and benefits available under PFM which if fully exploited could result in improved livelihoods of the forest adjacent communities; and explore the challenges encountered in the implementation of participatory forest management in an effort to improve the livelihoods of forest adjacent communities. The study employed survey design. The target population was the 3,607 members of the Kereita Forest and Wildlife Conservation Association (KFWCA). A representative sample of 120 respondents was selected by use of multistage and simple random sampling techniques. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. After analysis, the results were summarized and presented in tables.
The results showed that the forest adjacent community valued PFM and were very positive about it. A myriad of opportunities existed within the forest and these included: bee keeping, fish farming, ecotourism activities, sericulture among others. Though the community was involved in a few forestry activities such as firewood collection, livestock fodder gathering and livestock grazing, it was evident from the results that PFM had contributed to the improvement of the household incomes and hence the livelihoods of the forest adjacent community. This is evidenced by the overall mean income from forestry activities of Ksh 85,645 per annum translating into a monthly income of Ksh 7,000.
The major challenges affecting the implementation of PFM were limited benefits compared to costs incurred in PFM related work and political interference. Some of the suggestions for improvement included the establishment of a Forest Conservation and management Fund and development and approval of management plans which are supposed to open up more forestry related income generating activities for forest adjacent communities. The study recommends that for PFM to succeed in Kenya, there is need to ensure that benefits supersede the costs incurred by forest adjacent communities in order to generate sufficient incentives for long term community engagement. Signing of management agreements between the local communities and the forestry authorities need to be hastened.
The establishment of a Forest Conservation and Management Fund which is supposed to support the forest conservation efforts need to be fast tracked. In conclusion it is worth noting that. PFM was a dynamic and evolving process and should be judged only after it has been tried and given sufficient time to stabilize. It has a great potential of transforming forest adjacent communities'
livelihoods. | en_US |
