Forest Ecosystems
Ecosystem types, condition and distribution.
Forest Ecosystem Types
- Kenya Mangrove Portal
Dedicated portal for monitoring Kenya's mangrove forests: extent, change, restoration and the mangrove digital twin.
Montane & western rain forests & bamboo
Montane forests grow above 1,500 m. They are the most extensive forests and the country's water towers, including the Mau, Mt Kenya, Aberdares, Cherangany and Mt Elgon blocks, and Leroghi, Marsabit, the Ndotos, the Matthews Range, Mt Kulal, the Loita, Chyulu and Taita Hills and Mt Kasigau. Moist broad-leaved forests occur on windward slopes and drier mixed coniferous forests on leeward slopes; highland bamboo (Yushania alpina) dominates at higher altitudes.
Western rain forests have Guineo-Congolian characteristics and include Kakamega, North and South Nandi and Nyakweri forests. Their trees are taller and larger than in Kenya's other forests.
Mangroves & coastal forests
Mangroves are trees and shrubs adapted to saline environments, zoned by geomorphology, salinity and tides. Kenya has nine mangrove species, from the seaward Sonneratia alba through Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Ceriops tagal, Avicennia marina, Lumnitzera racemosa and Heritiera littoralis, with Xylocarpus granatum and X. moluccensis.
Coastal forests lie within 30 km of the shoreline: Arabuko-Sokoke, Shimba Hills, the Tana River forests and the Boni-Dodori complex. They are biodiversity hotspots dominated by Combretum, Afzelia, Albizia, Ekebergia, Hyphaene, Adansonia and Brachystegia woodland.
Dryland forests
Forests of the arid and semi-arid lands, dominated by Acacia-Commiphora with Combretum, Platycephelium voense, Manilkara, Lannea, Balanites aegyptiaca, Melia volkensii, Euphorbia candelabrum and Adansonia digitata. Riverine forests in dry areas belong to this stratum. Their carbon stocks differ from other forests because of leaf shedding, deep rooting and high wood density.
Plantation forest land
Even-aged commercial plantations with clearly defined boundaries in public forests, managed through pruning and thinning. Public plantations are mainly Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalyptus and pines (P. patula in montane areas, P. caribaea at the coast); private plantations are mainly Eucalyptus in montane areas, Melia volkensii in drylands and Casuarina equisetifolia at the coast.
Private plantation forests
Commercial plantations of various tree species outside gazetted forest areas, found in all forest strata. The national GHG inventory recommends georeferencing them and monitoring them like public plantations, with species- or site-specific emission factors.
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, National Forest Monitoring System in the Republic of Kenya, Version 1 (Draft), February 2021. Chapter 3.2, Forest stratification.
Source: Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Kenya's Third National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Document 1990–2022, December 2024 (Kenya’s national inventory report to the UNFCCC). Chapter 6.2.1.