Forest Cover and Tree Cover Maps
Forest and tree cover maps for Kenya and each county, 2010–2021.
Forest Cover 2010–2018
Land cover statistics for the years of the FRL reference period (ha, with the share of Kenya's land area).
| Land cover class | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dense forest | 2,057,649 (3.5%) | 2,139,703 (3.6%) | 2,463,674 (4.2%) | 2,558,363 (4.3%) | 2,205,189 (3.7%) |
| Moderate forest | 1,021,083 (1.7%) | 657,767 (1.1%) | 889,327 (1.5%) | 609,436 (1.0%) | 816,174 (1.4%) |
| Open forest | 591,035 (1.0%) | 522,508 (0.9%) | 525,469 (0.9%) | 415,061 (0.7%) | 441,173 (0.7%) |
| Sum forests | 3,669,768 (6.2%) | 3,319,978 (5.6%) | 3,878,470 (6.6%) | 3,582,861 (6.1%) | 3,462,536 (5.8%) |
| Wooded grassland | 33,447,438 (56.5%) | 32,286,628 (54.5%) | 31,742,295 (53.6%) | 32,388,566 (54.7%) | 32,271,452 (54.5%) |
| Open grassland | 8,985,269 (15.2%) | 9,299,024 (15.7%) | 9,331,841 (15.8%) | 8,821,893 (14.9%) | 8,980,656 (15.2%) |
| Perennial cropland | 281,755 (0.5%) | 299,776 (0.5%) | 261,821 (0.4%) | 299,727 (0.5%) | 284,357 (0.5%) |
| Annual cropland | 4,995,761 (8.4%) | 5,798,968 (9.8%) | 5,800,963 (9.8%) | 5,901,652 (10.0%) | 6,455,816 (10.9%) |
| Vegetated wetland | 29,327 (0.0%) | 40,541 (0.1%) | 45,956 (0.1%) | 38,868 (0.1%) | 40,212 (0.1%) |
| Open water | 1,212,707 (2.0%) | 1,177,785 (2.0%) | 1,215,342 (2.1%) | 1,223,689 (2.1%) | 1,227,320 (2.1%) |
| Settlements & other land | 6,581,764 (11.1%) | 6,981,089 (11.8%) | 6,927,099 (11.7%) | 6,946,533 (11.7%) | 6,481,438 (10.9%) |
| Total land area | 59,203,788 | 59,203,788 | 59,203,788 | 59,203,788 | 59,203,788 |
2021 (KFS, new map series): dense 1,756,716 ha, moderate 1,648,860 ha, open 1,820,617 ha; total 5,226,193 ha (8.8% of land). Produced from WorldView very high-resolution imagery (2021), unlike all earlier years (1990–2018), which used 30 m Landsat. Finer imagery picks up small, open and fragmented forest patches that Landsat misses, so the rise from 5.8% mostly reflects the change of sensor and method, not real forest gain; 2021 should not be compared directly with the Landsat series.
Forest cover for each of the 47 counties (2010–2018) is in the interactive County Explorer: Forest Data & Maps › County and Regional Forest Maps.
2018 (Landsat) and 2021 (WorldView) compared
The largest differences are in dryland counties (Turkana, Garissa, Tana River, Samburu, Kilifi, Kajiado), where Landsat's 30 m pixels confuse open dryland forest with grassland.
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, National Forest Monitoring System in the Republic of Kenya, Version 1 (Draft), February 2021. Appendix 1.
Source: 2021 National Forest Resources Assessment, Kenya Forest Service (WorldView very high-resolution imagery).