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 Sharing Protocol

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.

The NFMS/FIP Data Sharing Protocol is a binding agreement between institutions on how forest and land data is shared, managed and used on the platform. It is issued by the State Department for Forestry and administered by KFS.

Objectives

  • Timely, secure and standardised data sharing among stakeholders
  • Better data quality, consistency and integrity across institutions
  • Clear institutional roles and responsibilities
  • Interoperable, reusable data at national and international level
  • Alignment with the ICT Authority's data governance framework and the Data Protection Act, 2019

Data covered

  • Land use / land cover and change detection
  • Forest extent, canopy cover, biomass and vegetation indices
  • Forest inventories, biodiversity and habitat quality
  • Forest disturbance alerts (fire, logging, encroachment, pests, invasives)
  • Soil and land suitability
  • Hydrology, watersheds and water quality
  • Climate and meteorological records
  • Ecosystem services valuation
  • Forest tenure, cadastral and land registry data
  • Environmental compliance reports and EIAs
  • Logging permits, concessions, harvesting plans, forest infrastructure
  • Patrol and enforcement records
  • Community forestry and PFM
  • Socio-economic data on forest use and value chains
  • Human–wildlife conflict and wildlife migration
  • Agroforestry and sustainable land use
  • High-resolution imagery, aerial photography and LiDAR
  • Fire detection and burn scars

Document control

ItemDetail
TitleNFMS/FIP Data Sharing Protocol
Version1.0 (draft)
Effective dateOn approval
Approved byPrincipal Secretary, State Department for Forestry
ReviewEvery three years, or earlier where necessary
AmendmentsApproved by the National REDD+ Advisory Board

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