Republic of KenyaKenya Forest ServiceKenya NFMS-FIPNational Forest Monitoring System – Forest Information PlatformHealthy Forests • Resilient Ecosystems • People and Nature • Data for Action

Data Quality Assurance & Control (QA/QC)

Validation, spatial quality checks, field verification, error correction and checklists.

Data Validation Procedures

Kenya Forest Service Quality Policy (ISO 9001:2015)

KFS is committed to a Quality Management System that ensures consistent, efficient and customer-focused delivery of services to all stakeholders. The NFMS-FIP data procedures below put the policy into practice for forest information.

KFS commitments under ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Policy Statement, 26 May 2026)
  1. 1

    Provide sustainable forest conservation, management and forestry products and services that meet and exceed customer expectations.

  2. 2

    Establish, monitor, evaluate and regularly review quality objectives at all levels (headquarters, conservancies, county forest conservation areas and the Kenya Forestry College), aligned with the Strategic Plan.

  3. 3

    Comply with the statutory, regulatory and other requirements for forestry and environmental management in Kenya.

  4. 4

    Build staff competence through training and mentorship, and stay engaged with Community Forest Associations, stakeholders and partners.

  5. 5

    Continually improve the Quality Management System, processes, infrastructure and service delivery through monitoring, risk management, internal audits and data-driven management reviews.

  6. 6

    Adopt innovation, technology, research and best practice in sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation.

  7. 7

    Use resources efficiently and effectively.

  8. 8

    Mobilize resources for the development and use of forest resources.

  9. 9

    Maintain an updated forest information system for decision making and dissemination. This commitment is delivered through the NFMS-FIP.

The policy is reviewed from time to time in line with the Forest Conservation and Management Act, and management communicates it to all levels of the Service.

Data validation procedures for the NFMS-FIP

  • The IC-FRA forest inventory manual standardises survey methods, so that field crews understand them and errors are reduced.
  • Independent QA/QC teams of experienced specialists re-measure 10% of all plots, chosen at random, to estimate measurement errors for the uncertainty assessment and to improve future inventories.
  • Universities carry out QA/QC of the inventory and of the carbon stock conversion; JKUAT assesses the accuracy of the land cover maps.

Quality objectives of the national GHG inventory (NID 2024)

Data quality objectives (Table 1-6)
ObjectiveHow it is judged
AccuracyEmissions are neither over- nor under-estimated as far as can be judged; uncertainties and their causes are described for activity data and emission factors
ComparabilityMethods from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, using the flexibility in decision 18/CMA.1
CompletenessAll categories with IPCC methods are included; the whole country is covered; values or notation keys for every category; any gap is explained
ConsistencyThe same method across the time series for each category, with trends explained; any change of method is documented
TransparencyEverything needed to reproduce the estimates is in the report or archived for expert review: methods, activity data, emission factors, emissions by gas
  • Quality control: sector experts apply a Tier 1 QC checklist (calculations, data processing, completeness, documentation) to all key categories and a selection of others.
  • Quality assurance: sector experts check that activity data, emission factors and parameters are complete and accurate; land-sector methods are harmonised with the FRL and FAO's Forest Resources Assessment 2020.
  • Land sector: land classification checks, internal and external validation, secure storage with regular backups, and Standard Operating Procedures for data collection, processing and analysis.

Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, National Forest Monitoring System in the Republic of Kenya, Version 1 (Draft), February 2021. Chapter 5.2.1 (4), QA/QC measures.

Source: Kenya Forest Service, Quality Policy Statement (ISO 9001:2015), 26 May 2026.

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 1.5 and 6.4.5, Table 1-6.