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Restoration & Tree-Growing Reports

Tree-growing programme, seedlings, survival, landscape and mangrove restoration.

Tree-Growing Programme Progress

National tree and forest cover targets

National tree cover targets, KFS Strategic Plan 2023–2027 (Table 13)
10% (Constitution, Article 69)
2021 (baseline)
12.13%
Mid-term
16.68%
2027
21.03%
2032
30%

Tree cover is forest plus trees outside forests. The plan raises it from 12.13% to 21.03% by 2027, on the way to 30% by 2032 (the national tree-growing programme of 15 billion trees).

The National Strategy for achieving 30% tree cover by 2032 (a Presidential forestry and rangeland restoration programme) aims to grow 15 billion trees on about 10.6 million hectares. KFS has committed to produce and grow 1.5 billion tree seedlings in five years (3.15 billion in ten years); the Strategic Plan 2023–2027 is aligned with these figures.

10%Forest cover targetConstitution and Vision 2030, by 2030
≈207,000 haNeeded every yearfrom 2019 to reach 10% by 2030
5.1 M haRestoration commitmentBonn Challenge and AFR100, by 2030
≈137,000 haPublic plantation zoneonly 56,000–65,000 ha stocked

Kenya has committed to restore 5.1 million ha of degraded landscapes by 2030 (about 392,000 ha a year) under the New York Declaration on Forests, the Bonn Challenge and AFR100. Reaching 10% forest cover from 5.85% in 2018 requires adding about 207,000 ha of forest each year. Such a rate would turn Kenya's forests from a net source into a net sink.

Public plantations hold a replanting backlog: between 2002 and 2018 more was harvested (4,178 ha/yr) than replanted (3,296 ha/yr), and only about half of the land set aside for public plantations is stocked.

Public plantations: area harvested vs replanted per year
010k5kNet 7k2002–2006Net 7k2006–2010Net 7k2010–2014Net 8k2014–2018
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Where Kenya stands: tree cover by county, 2021

The Constitution sets a target of at least 10% tree cover. In 2021 tree cover (forest plus trees outside forests) was 12.13% nationally; ten counties are still below 10% and are priorities for tree growing.

Map: tree cover by county, 2021 (WorldView)
Loading counties…

Click a county on the map to see its 2021 figures.

2021 was mapped from WorldView imagery; all other years from Landsat. The 2021 figures are therefore not directly comparable with 2010–2018.

Tree cover by county, 2021
10% target
Nyeri
45.2%Lamu
44.1%Vihiga
35.9%Kirinyaga
30.4%Elgeyo-Marakwet
29.9%Meru
29.6%Embu
29.3%Murang'a
27.8%Kilifi
27.8%Nyandarua
27.6%Tharaka-Nithi
27.0%Bomet
26.8%Kisii
26.6%Nandi
26.2%Samburu
25.6%Mombasa
23.8%Kericho
23.2%Nyamira
22.8%West Pokot
20.1%Narok
20.1%Kitui
20.1%Bungoma
20.0%Kiambu
19.7%Kakamega
18.2%Baringo
15.7%Nakuru
15.5%Trans Nzoia
15.2%Kwale
14.0%Nairobi
13.8%Garissa
12.7%Makueni
12.5%Laikipia
11.2%Kajiado
10.9%Turkana
10.9%Migori
10.8%Homa Bay
10.4%Tana River
10.4%Kisumu
8.8%Busia
8.4%Uasin Gishu
8.0%Taita Taveta
6.9%Isiolo
6.7%Machakos
6.0%Siaya
5.3%Wajir
4.5%Mandera
3.6%Marsabit
2.1%

37 of 47 counties have at least 10% tree cover. Click a county to open its profile. Bar colour shows tree cover (%): red/orange below 10%, green above.

Source: 2021 National Forest Resources Assessment, Kenya Forest Service (WorldView very high-resolution imagery); Kenya Forest Service, Strategic Plan 2023–2027.

Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, The National Forest Reference Level for REDD+ Implementation, December 2019 (Kenya’s FRL submission to the UNFCCC). Chapters 1.2.1, 5.5 and 5.7.