What is NFMS?
Introduction, purpose, objectives, scope and components of Kenya's NFMS.
Introduction to Kenya NFMS
Forests provide Kenyans with ecological, social, cultural and economic goods and services: energy, timber for construction, and regulation of water flow. According to the National Forest Policy (2005), the forest sector supports agriculture, livestock, fisheries, energy, wildlife, water, tourism, trade and industry, sectors that contribute 33–39% of GDP. Biomass energy serves about 80% of the population.
Kenya is a low forest cover country, with less than 10% of its land area under forest. Its forest ecosystems are montane and western rain forests, dryland forests, and coastal and mangrove forests. Forest cover was 6.1% of the land area in 2014 (SLEEK land cover map, adjusted to the national forest definition), below the constitutional requirement of 10%.
Pressures on forests include population growth and poverty, illegal logging, charcoal making, and encroachment for agriculture and settlement, together with weak enforcement and insecure property rights. The NFMS supports the national commitment to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation and to increase forest cover.
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, National Forest Monitoring System in the Republic of Kenya, Version 1 (Draft), February 2021. Chapter 1, Background.