The Kenya Forest Service has reclaimed over 135,907 acres of encroached forest land through a human rights-based approach, outgoing chief conservator of forests Julius Kamau has said.
Kamau, who took the helm of KFS on April 26, 2019, on Tuesday handed over the leadership to Alex Lemarkoko after the end of his four-year term.
KFS board chairperson Job Chirchir witnessed the handover ceremony.
Kamau said approximately 28,000 hectares (69,189 acres) of previously unstocked forest plantation areas have been re-stocked with the support of the Forest Adjacent Communities through the Plantation Establishment Livelihood Improvement Scheme.
He said the image of the institution has since improved.
“KFS is now a stronger brand, well connected and anchored in the public ecosystem, thanks to our improved governance and effective communication in all that we did," he said.
"This has greatly improved its image, and public trust and built a strong army of communities, partners and stakeholders willing to and demonstrating their commitment to complementing our efforts.”
Kamau said when he joined the institution, the staff capacity was 48 per cent but now stands at 77 per cent, adding that the capacity will grow to 88 per cent on the full implementation of the presidential directive on the recruitment of 3,300 additional staff.
KFS protects 6.4 million acres of gazetted forests and another 420 million acres under counties.
Kamau said KFS has continued to enhance its technological capabilities, innovations and systems integrations to complement her human capabilities.
Among these are, the Artificial Intelligence-based forest change detection alert system commonly known as forest alert, forest fire risk monitoring system, forest information management system, E-registration and forest surveillance through unmanned aerial vehicles- the drones.
The outgoing CCF said the protection of forest resources has been enhanced through the strengthening of the social fences through effective partnerships between the service and the Community Forest Associations for mutual benefits.
Kamau said the physical electric fencing of Kenya’s critical forest ecosystems, among them, Aberdare, Mt Kenya, Mau and Kakamega Forest, which currently stands at approximately 700km conservation electric fence line, has protected the country’s forests.
“With ever evolving and emerging forest threats, the service as one of the national security agencies has embraced the multi-agency security arrangement, has benefited from this arrangement in dealing with her special forest operations and its role has equally been recognised of relevance by other security agencies,” he said.
Kamau said KFS has since acquired its flag, a move that has dignified the service.
He said the forest cover has increased from 5.9 per cent in 2018 to 8.83 per cent in 2021 while the national tree cover stands at 12.13 per cent above the constitutional target of 10 per cent.
“The tree cover assessment being the first in Kenyan history served as a baseline in the formulation of the new national target of attaining 30 per cent tree cover by 2032,” he said.
The government is seeking to plant 15 billion trees in the next 10 years to raise Kenya’s tree cover to 30 per cent by 2032.
The total budget for the 10-year bid is Sh600 billion.
This means that each year, the budget is approximately Sh60 billion.
Chirchir congratulated Lemarkoko on his appointment in an acting capacity, saying he is confident that he will steer the service to greater heights.
Lemarkoko thanked the chairman and the board for giving him a chance to serve as the acting CCF, adding that KFS has the capacity to spearhead the achievement of the presidential directive to attain 30 per cent tree cover by the year 2032.
He also thanked the outgoing CCF for his service to KFS.
Lemarkoko, a career forester, has a wealth of experience spanning over 30 years, serving in both forest management and protection in various capacities from an assistant conservator role.
This includes his most recent role as the senior deputy chief conservator of forests responsible for forest protection and security.
