1. REDD READINESS ACTIVITIES IN
KENYA
ALFRED N. GICHU
Kenya Forest Service
alfredgichu@kenyaforestservice.org
alfredgichu@yahoo.com
BENEDICT OMONDI
bomondi@kenyaforestservice.org
bpomondi@yahoo.com

2. CONTENTS
Country Profile
Forestry sector Profile
Key Drivers of Deforestation& Forest Degradation
Proposed Interventions
Readiness Activities and Progress made so far
REDD Management Structure
Key Challenges

3. Kenya Country Profile
Kenya measures 582,650 sq. Km
Has a population of about 40 million people.
Over 70% of Pop. depend on agriculture for their social and economic
livelihood
Only 20% of the country is classified as arable; 80% is classified as arid
and semi-arid areas.
More than 70% of the national energy demand is derived from fuelwood
The national forest cover stands at 5.9% with an annual deforestation rate
estimated at 12,000 ha per annum.
There is a new forest legislation (Forests Act 2005) that requires all forests
subscribe to sustainable forest management regardless of ownership.

4. The Forest sector in Kenya
The main forest types in Kenya,
Natural high forests
Dryland forests referred to as woodlands and
Forest plantations
Most of the forests (97.8%) are either state owned or
managed by local authorities, only 2.3 % private forests exist
Kenya is estimated to be emitting 14.4 million tonnes of
CO2 per year from deforestation activities or roughly about
52,000 ha per year.

5. Kenya’s Forest Profile
Coast
North Eastern
Ewaso North
Eastern
Nairobi
Central Highlands
Mau
North Rift
Western
Nyanza

6. Key drivers for deforestation and forest
degradation in Kenya
Several socio-economic factors contribute to Kenya’s loss of
forest:
Pressure for expansion of agricultural land, settlement and
development,
Unsustainable utilization of forest resources,
High dependence on wood energy for lighting and domestic
consumption especially charcoal
Overgrazing and Forest Fires,
Institutional failures arising from weak governance
structures, inadequate capacity to enforce the law and lack
of real stakeholder participation forest management.

7. Proposed interventions
1. Strict protection of water catchment forests Mt. Elgon and
Cherangany, Aberdare, Mt. Kenya, Mau Complex
2. improved stoves & other energy conservation technologies
3. Promotion of nature based micro enterprises
4. Institutional strengthening to enhance sustainable management
5. Public education and awareness
6. Improvement on fire monitoring and management
7. Provision of incentives, particularly payment for environmental
services and tax holidays / tax rebates
8. Incentives to promote efficiency in forest resource utilization
9. Supporting afforestation and reforestation to reduce the current
national timber deficit

8. REDD readiness activities in Kenya
Readiness activities required to support REDDD
implementation after 2012,
A national implementation strategy
Establishment of reference emission Scenario
An effective monitoring system to assess performance.
Kenya Forest Service has been designated as the REDD
Focal point for coordination of National REDD Readiness
activities.

9. Progress Made on REDD
Kenya with support from the FCPF has started the process of
preparing a readiness package through a multi-stakeholder,
multi-institutional process.
A Participation Agreement between GOK and PC signed
A Grant Agreement between GOK and WB has been signed
to support development of the Readiness Plan Proposal (RPP).
A multi-sectoral REDD- Technical Working Group established
Process of establishing a Steering Committee initiated
Process of formulating the REDD Preparation Proposal that will
inform the other phases initiated.
A consultation and participation plan developed and its
implementation has commenced.

10. Kenya REDD+ Management structure
Kenya has established a functional multi stakeholder
Technical Working Group (TWG)
The TWG is divided into three sub groups
Consultation and Participation subgroup
Methodology subgroup
Policy and Institutional Subgroup
A REDD+ secretariat exists within the KFS
Kenya is in the process of forming a national REDD+
steering committee

11. Tasks for the Sub-Groups
Policy and Institutional Issues
Development of national REDD Strategy, including identification of drivers of
deforestation and degradation;
Institutional dimensions of REDD: national, regional and local-level institutions;
legal framework; governance dimensions, benefit-sharing mechanisms, land
tenure, etc.
Methodology - Reference Scenario ,Monitoring, Reporting ,Verification
system, Biomass estimation
Consultation and Participation - National dialogue, including participation
of civil society and the private sector ,elaboration of a national
consultation, participation and outreach plan; identification of
participatory mechanisms.

12. Key challenges
1. Forest assessments to establish an emission
reference scenario
1. Establishing a monitoring system for emissions, emission
reductions -Forest resource assessments and monitoring
and verification of carbon stocks
2. Generating synergies in support of REDD activities
across the stakeholder spectrum
3. Enlisting formal support across the government to
facilitate and entrench cross-sectoral collaboration.

13. ASANTE SANA