International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management

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Influence of Community Forest Association Activities on Dryland Resources Management: Case of Kibwezi Forest in Kenya

Received: Aug. 06, 2020    Accepted: Aug. 17, 2020    Published: Sep. 03, 2020
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Abstract

Gazetted forests in Kenya are owned and managed by the government through Kenya Forest Service. Other stakeholders including communities formally participate in forest management through Participatory Forest Management, concessions and leasehold. In each management regime the forest has to be well managed and the community continue accessing forest products. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether Community Forest Association activities lead to improved forest cover in a leased forest. The study adopted a descriptive survey design where both qualitative data and satellite data was collected. A sample size of 139 individuals was issued with questionnaires and 5 key informants were interviewed. Satellite imagery was used to quantify changes and trends in forest cover of Kibwezi forest for ten years. Findings of the study established that infrastructural development had a great effect on destruction of forest cover in Kibwezi forest. There was significance relationship between community participation and improvement of forest since Chi square results were (χ2 =27.631, df=9, 0.001). This research recommends that there should be deliberate action by stakeholders to give community forest association incentives to operate optimally. The improvement of the forest was partially contributed by presence of community forest association during inception of project but later David Sheldrick Trust which fenced the forest.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16
Published in International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management ( Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020 )
Page(s) 119-128
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Community Forest Association, Leasehold, Forest-cover, Forest Destruction, Conservation, Incentives

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    John Mwendwa Mugambi, Jane Kagendo, Mulaha Kweyu, Musingo Tito Edward Mbuvi. (2020). Influence of Community Forest Association Activities on Dryland Resources Management: Case of Kibwezi Forest in Kenya. International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, 5(3), 119-128. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16

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    ACS Style

    John Mwendwa Mugambi; Jane Kagendo; Mulaha Kweyu; Musingo Tito Edward Mbuvi. Influence of Community Forest Association Activities on Dryland Resources Management: Case of Kibwezi Forest in Kenya. Int. J. Nat. Resour. Ecol. Manag. 2020, 5(3), 119-128. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16

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    AMA Style

    John Mwendwa Mugambi, Jane Kagendo, Mulaha Kweyu, Musingo Tito Edward Mbuvi. Influence of Community Forest Association Activities on Dryland Resources Management: Case of Kibwezi Forest in Kenya. Int J Nat Resour Ecol Manag. 2020;5(3):119-128. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16,
      author = {John Mwendwa Mugambi and Jane Kagendo and Mulaha Kweyu and Musingo Tito Edward Mbuvi},
      title = {Influence of Community Forest Association Activities on Dryland Resources Management: Case of Kibwezi Forest in Kenya},
      journal = {International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {119-128},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnrem.20200503.16},
      abstract = {Gazetted forests in Kenya are owned and managed by the government through Kenya Forest Service. Other stakeholders including communities formally participate in forest management through Participatory Forest Management, concessions and leasehold. In each management regime the forest has to be well managed and the community continue accessing forest products. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether Community Forest Association activities lead to improved forest cover in a leased forest. The study adopted a descriptive survey design where both qualitative data and satellite data was collected. A sample size of 139 individuals was issued with questionnaires and 5 key informants were interviewed. Satellite imagery was used to quantify changes and trends in forest cover of Kibwezi forest for ten years. Findings of the study established that infrastructural development had a great effect on destruction of forest cover in Kibwezi forest. There was significance relationship between community participation and improvement of forest since Chi square results were (χ2 =27.631, df=9, 0.001). This research recommends that there should be deliberate action by stakeholders to give community forest association incentives to operate optimally. The improvement of the forest was partially contributed by presence of community forest association during inception of project but later David Sheldrick Trust which fenced the forest.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Influence of Community Forest Association Activities on Dryland Resources Management: Case of Kibwezi Forest in Kenya
    AU  - John Mwendwa Mugambi
    AU  - Jane Kagendo
    AU  - Mulaha Kweyu
    AU  - Musingo Tito Edward Mbuvi
    Y1  - 2020/09/03
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16
    T2  - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
    JF  - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
    JO  - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
    SP  - 119
    EP  - 128
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-3061
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20200503.16
    AB  - Gazetted forests in Kenya are owned and managed by the government through Kenya Forest Service. Other stakeholders including communities formally participate in forest management through Participatory Forest Management, concessions and leasehold. In each management regime the forest has to be well managed and the community continue accessing forest products. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether Community Forest Association activities lead to improved forest cover in a leased forest. The study adopted a descriptive survey design where both qualitative data and satellite data was collected. A sample size of 139 individuals was issued with questionnaires and 5 key informants were interviewed. Satellite imagery was used to quantify changes and trends in forest cover of Kibwezi forest for ten years. Findings of the study established that infrastructural development had a great effect on destruction of forest cover in Kibwezi forest. There was significance relationship between community participation and improvement of forest since Chi square results were (χ2 =27.631, df=9, 0.001). This research recommends that there should be deliberate action by stakeholders to give community forest association incentives to operate optimally. The improvement of the forest was partially contributed by presence of community forest association during inception of project but later David Sheldrick Trust which fenced the forest.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Languages and Humanities, School of Social Sciences, Mount Kenya University, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Languages and Humanities, School of Social Sciences, Mount Kenya University, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Geography, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Research and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, Kenya Forest Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Section