Nairobi — Kenya is collaborating with Japan to promote sustainable forest management and landscape restoration in ongoing efforts to increase the country's tree cover by 30 per cent by 2032.
The 5-year-project, dubbed Strengthening Forestry Sector Development and Community Resilience to Climate Change through Sustainable Forest Management and Landscape Restoration (SFS-CORECC) which began in 2022 and will run until January 2027.
The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (MECCF).
The Deputy Director Forest Biodiversity and Environment Management at KEFRI James Ndufa said the project comprises of four components: policy support, commercial forestry promotion, tree breeding and regional cooperation.
"The project purpose is to strengthen the capacity of relevant institutions in promoting sustainable forest management, landscape restoration and climate change mitigation and adaptation in the country and in the region," Ndufa said.
Other implementing agencies of the project include the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI).
Commenting on the commercial forestry promotion in dry counties component, Ndufa explained that the model will be piloted in eight counties.
The targeted counties are Embu, Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale, Makueni, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Tharaka Nithi.
He pointed out that the project will play a critical role in contributing to Kenya's national target of planting 15 billion trees by 2032 through various aspects including the expansion of tree planting and provision of quality seedlings.
The KEFRI official further noted that the project will further help in the overall goal of achieving long-term counter measures against climate change effects.
"In this country we have had a number of droughts and floods because the landscape cannot longer absorb the water. This project will play a critical role in mitigating some of these effects," he added.
For the success of the SFS-CORECC, Ndufa said that the government is working with several agencies including Council of Governors, Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee and County governments in pilot counties.
Ndufa stated that through regional co-operation, the SFS-CORECC also seeks to contribute towards combating climate change in the Sub-Saharan Africa which is bearing the brunt of climate change.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Commenting on the policy support component, the Conservator of Forests at KFS, Beatrice Atemo, said that to identify the gaps in forest conservation policies, the Ministry prepared a forest gap analysis report through forest-related laws and policies.
Atemo disclosed that a total of 225 gaps were identified through stakeholder consultation meetings held at both national and local levels.
Additionally, a Technical Working Group, was established to support the review, and 12 criteria were developed for the prioritization of policies and laws for review or formulation by the project.
Prioritization was then undertaken through scoring of the target policies using the set criteria
"We have identified and revised the existing gaps, and under the project support, developed a drafting matrix that has been submitted to the Attorney General for drafting the Bill so that it can continue the process upto enactment," she said.
She added that the Ministry has developed a draft National Agroforestry Strategy, adding that the process is ongoing.
Atemo said that the Ministry is also looking to tap into the carbon markets in the process.
To achieve the target of increasing tree cover, Atemo disclosed that the Ministry, with support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has developed a forest Monitoring system to assess and determine the progress of tree planting and used in decision making.
Commenting on the Kenya- Japan collaboration, the Second Secretary at the Japanese Embassy, Nishimura Masaya, affirmed Japan's commitment to supporting Kenya in strengthening its capacity to combat climate change and achieve social-economic development.
