The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has announced a nationwide plan to fence all gazetted forests, marking one of the most ambitious efforts yet to protect the country’s shrinking forest cover.
In a statement issued on Monday, the agency said the programme is aimed at drawing clear boundaries around protected forests to curb encroachment, reduce human-wildlife conflict, and safeguard critical ecosystems.
“The Government is scaling up forest protection through strategic fencing of forest stations nationwide,” KFS said, adding that the move will also support ecosystem restoration and natural regeneration.
The number of gazetted forests in Kenya stands at around 289 to 304, with each forest taking up to 2.5 million hectares – six per cent of the total land mass in the country. Gazetted forests play a key role in ensuring that water, soil, and biodiversity in the country are maintained.
Additionally, KFS maintains some 180,000 hectares of un-gazetted forests of trust land which includes mangroves, coastal forests and plantations spread throughout the nation.
The natural forests cover over 95 per cent of all gazetted forests and hence need protection because humans pose additional risks to them.
Among the key water towers within the country, such as the Mau Forest Complex, Mount Kenya Forest, Aberdare Range Forest, Mount Elgon Forest, and Cherangani Hills Forest, constitute approximately 75 per cent of all fresh water in the country.
But sadly many forests in the country have suffered from a great amount of degradation, especially the Mau Forest complex, which once was the biggest in the whole nation, but now is greatly reduced because of human encroachment and expanding agricultural production.
Human-wildlife conflicts have also been experienced in bordering forest regions. For instance, cases of elephant and primate crop destruction have been reported in regions surrounding Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, while livestock loss related to wildlife issues has continued to occur in parts of Kajiado and Kitengela.
According to KFS, the fencing program will help mitigate such conflicts by demarcating human settlements from wildlife habitat – an idea that has been encouraged for decades now by conservationists.
The move follows the government’s efforts to promote its environmental agenda, which has been intensified during President William Ruto’s leadership. This includes plans to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, thereby increasing national tree cover to 30%.
These efforts have also seen the implementation of various programs like National Tree Growing Day campaign and changing October 10 from Environment Day to Mazingira Day to ensure maximum public participation in conservation initiatives.
According to KFS, the fencing project forms part of the critical measures that can be taken to conserve forest resources available in Kenya.