Forestry groups to get registration

Community forest associations will now be required to seek registration a the attorney general’s office to make them more accountable and help the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) in the management of forest resources.

A KFS Senior assistant director and head of Coast Conservancy Enock Kanyanya called on communities in the province to start the registration process adding that the region could benefit greatly if forest activities are properly regulated.

Speaking at Gazi in Kwale during training on capacity building for mangrove assessment, restoration and valuation in East Africa, Mr Kanyanya said all the programmes initiated by the service will stem from the community.

“This will give the community the voice on the management of their resources unlike in the past when proposals were coming from above. But this can only be done if communities organise themselves into groups for ease of management,” he said.

He said the World Bank had selected Kenya to pilot a project where the country will be able to monitor its carbon emission for the economic benefit of the communities.

The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) with the support from a UK research organisation has launched a training programme that will give skills to selected community groups to give value to their resource for the international market.

The campaign through capacity building for mangrove assessment, restoration and valuation in East Africa (CAMARV) community groups are already being trained on how to use scientific methods to assess the carbon content of the aquatic trees and value it for commercial purposes.

The project is funded by the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for 150, 000 Sterling pounds (about Sh15million) and will impart skills on geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing to members of the community.

The project coordinator and mangrove scientist Dr James Kairo said the project is a partnership between KMFRI, the universities of Southampton and Bangor in the UK and Ecometrica, a UK company specialising in the quantification and analysis of ecosystems.

As part of the one year project Dr Kairo said activities will include resource assessment of mangroves along the entire coastline. The training, he said will concentrate on mangrove assessment and restoration aspects while the second training to be held in Malindi in August will train on resource valuation.

KMFRI Centre director Dr Daniel Munga called for the speeding up of a mangrove management plan to address issues of exploitation and conservation of the mangroves.

“Mangrove forest is among the most threatened ecosystem and in Kenya alone, we have witnessed a 20 percent decline in mangrove cover over the last two decades. This is alarming considering that 70 percent of the wood requirement along the coast is met by mangroves,’’ he said.