Restoring the Commons: Joint Reforestation Governance in Kenya

Harvard Kennedy School


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Abstract: Through the Bonn Challenge on Forest and Landscape Restoration, countries have committed to individually determined targets for land they will restore to ecological functioning. Kenya committed in 2016 to restoring 5.1 million hectares of land by 2030, which would require a signicant increase over the present rates of forest and landscape restoration. Kenya is committed to local community participation in forest management, but the contours of that participation remain contested. To understand the optimal allocation of rights and responsibilities between KFS and the community forest associations set up as the vehicles of local participation in forest management, I undertook qualitative field research at four reforestation sites in the Southwestern and Western Mau forest reserves. Key findings are that there is room to improve the speed and success of reforestation and that a greater community role in initiating projects may help achieve that improvement.

Author:
Nathaniel Eisen
Theme/Sector:
Forestry and Natural Resources, Governance
Year
2019

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