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

Data Governance & Sharing

Ownership, classification and access, sharing protocol, agreements, privacy and archiving.

Data Ownership and Custodianship

Draft for consultation: this follows the draft NFMS/FIP Data Sharing Protocol and Governance Structure, which take effect when approved by the Principal Secretary, State Department for Forestry.
Roles in the Data Sharing Protocol
RoleMeaning
Data providerAny institution that generates, collects, maintains or submits data to the NFMS/FIP
Data ownerThe originating institution: ownership stays with it unless a law or agreement says otherwise
Data custodianKenya Forest Service: administers, stores, secures and manages datasets on the platform, without taking ownership
Data stewardThe officer each institution designates to coordinate submission, quality assurance, metadata and communication with the Secretariat
Data userAny authorised person or institution given access under the Protocol

Ownership, responsibility and acknowledgement

  • Each institution remains responsible for the accuracy, completeness, legality and currency of the data it submits.
  • The Ministry and KFS are not liable for errors in data submitted by third parties.
  • Users must acknowledge the originating institution in publications, reports, maps and other products, as set out in the dataset's metadata.
  • Any licence, access or use conditions set by the originating institution apply to third-party use.

Source: Draft NFMS/FIP Data Sharing Protocol, version 1.0, Kenya Forest Service and State Department for Forestry (July 2026).