Institutional Governance
KFS mandate, NFMS-FIP governance, roles, coordination and reporting arrangements.
Roles and Responsibilities
| Body | Main responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry: State Department for Forestry | Issues the Data Sharing Protocol under its national coordination mandate for forest monitoring, climate reporting and REDD+; Provides policy direction; Approves the Protocol (Principal Secretary) and oversees its national implementation. |
| National REDD+ Advisory Board / Steering Committee | Strategic oversight; endorses key protocols and policies; Ensures alignment with national priorities; Resolves high-level implementation issues and gives final arbitration of disputes; Approves amendments to the Protocol; reviews the annual implementation status report. |
| REDD+ Coordination Unit | Coordinates implementation and inter-agency collaboration; Oversees the three Technical Working Groups; Monitors compliance and reports on implementation progress; Receives disputes the Working Groups cannot resolve; oversees access to restricted data. |
| Forest Monitoring and MRV Working Group | Primary technical reviewer of submitted datasets; Checks completeness, accuracy and conformity to the FIP standards; Validates technical standards and recommends approval or rejection. |
| Policy and REDD+ Strategy Implementation Working Group | Advises on policy compliance of datasets and products; Supports implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy; Like all Working Groups: reviews datasets, recommends approval or rejection, identifies technical improvements. |
| Safeguards Information System, Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Working Group | Ensures metadata compliance before a dataset is endorsed; Advises on safeguards; Communication and stakeholder engagement. |
| NFMS/FIP Secretariat at Kenya Forest Service | Administers the NFMS/FIP platform and manages user access; Coordinates data submission, storage, publication and system maintenance; gives technical support; Uploads approved datasets to the live platform; Monitors implementation of the Protocol and leads capacity development. |
| Kenya Forest Service | Hosts the platform: data custodian and lead implementing agency; Custodian of hosted datasets without taking ownership of them; Implements security safeguards and coordinates recovery after incidents. |
| REDD+ implementing and participating institutions | Generate, validate, document and submit datasets with the required metadata; Designate a Data Steward; Maintain data quality and give timely updates; Remain responsible for the accuracy, legality and integrity of what they submit. |
| Authorised data users | Use datasets only for approved purposes, respecting access conditions, attribution and the law. |
| Item | Activity / data | Lead institution | Institution | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest cover area based on SLEEK programme | Creation, authorization and publication of the Land cover/Land use (LCLU) map | SLEEK | KFS | Creation of the LCLU map |
| Forest cover area based on SLEEK programme | Creation, authorization and publication of the Land cover/Land use (LCLU) map | SLEEK | KEFRI | Creation of the LCLU map |
| Forest cover area based on SLEEK programme | Creation, authorization and publication of the Land cover/Land use (LCLU) map | SLEEK | Survey of Kenya | Creation of the LCLU map |
| Forest cover area based on SLEEK programme | Creation, authorization and publication of the Land cover/Land use (LCLU) map | SLEEK | DRSRS | Creation of the LCLU map |
| Forest cover area based on SLEEK programme | Creation, authorization and publication of the Land cover/Land use (LCLU) map | SLEEK | JKUAT | Undertaking accuracy assessment on products developed (QA/QC) |
| Forest cover area based on SLEEK programme | Creation, authorization and publication of the Land cover/Land use (LCLU) map | SLEEK | SLEEK | Authorization and publication of LCLU map |
| Forest cover change area based on LCLU maps (AD) | Creation of the land cover/ land use change maps based on the LCLU maps | KFS | KFS | Creation of LCLU change maps |
| Forest cover change area based on LCLU maps (AD) | Creation of the land cover/ land use change maps based on the LCLU maps | KFS | SLEEK | Checking accuracy of the change maps (QA/QC) |
| Forest cover change area based on LCLU maps (AD) | Creation of the land cover/ land use change maps based on the LCLU maps | KFS | JKUAT | Checking accuracy of the change maps (QA/QC) |
| Forest cover change area based on LCLU maps (AD) | Creation of the land cover/ land use change maps based on the LCLU maps | KFS | DRSRS | Checking accuracy of the change maps (QA/QC) |
| Forest cover change area based on LCLU maps (AD) | Creation of the land cover/ land use change maps based on the LCLU maps | KFS | KEFRI | Checking accuracy of the change maps (QA/QC) |
| National forest inventory (NFI) | Implementation of the NFI | KFS | KFS | Carry out NFI |
| National forest inventory (NFI) | Implementation of the NFI | KFS | KEFRI | Support NFI |
| National forest inventory (NFI) | Implementation of the NFI | KFS | Universities | Carry out QA/QC |
| Conversion of the inventory data into carbon stock data (EF) | Analysis of inventory data & improvement of allometric equations and other related conversion factors | KFS | KFS | Carry out the conversion |
| Conversion of the inventory data into carbon stock data (EF) | Analysis of inventory data & improvement of allometric equations and other related conversion factors | KFS | KEFRI | Support analysis of inventory data & improvement of allometric equations and other related conversion factors |
| Conversion of the inventory data into carbon stock data (EF) | Analysis of inventory data & improvement of allometric equations and other related conversion factors | KFS | Universities | Carry out QA/QC |
| JICA-JAXA Forest Early Warning System in the Tropics（JJ-FAST） | Monitoring of deforestation | KFS | KFS | Management of the monitoring |
| The Near Real Time Forest Alert System (NRTFAS) | Receiving and analyzing of forest destruction alerts | KFS | KFS | Management of the monitoring |
| Field validation for deforestation according to data from JJ-FAST and NRTFAS | Ground truth survey by use of Survey 123 | KFS | KFS | Carry out ground truth, and data collection and analysis |
| Policies and Measures (PaMs) | Monitor Policies and Measures based on indicators for each | MoE&F | MoE&F | Manage the monitoring |
| Policies and Measures (PaMs) | Monitor Policies and Measures based on indicators for each | MoE&F | KFS | Support the monitoring of PaMs |
| Policies and Measures (PaMs) | Monitor Policies and Measures based on indicators for each | MoE&F | KWS | Support the monitoring of PaMs |
| Policies and Measures (PaMs) | Monitor Policies and Measures based on indicators for each | MoE&F | KEFRI | Support the monitoring of PaMs |
| Biodiversity | Biodiversity Monitoring | KFS | KFS | Data collection through NFI and analysis of data |
| Biodiversity | Biodiversity Monitoring | KFS | NMK | Support monitoring and share data on biodiversity |
| Biodiversity | Biodiversity Monitoring | KFS | KEFRI | Support monitoring and share data on biodiversity |
| Biodiversity | Biodiversity Monitoring | KFS | KWS | Support monitoring and share data on biodiversity |
| REDD+ and AR-CDM projects | Monitoring of REDD+ & AR-CDM projects in Kenya | MoE&F | MoE&F | Manage the results of monitoring |
| REDD+ and AR-CDM projects | Monitoring of REDD+ & AR-CDM projects in Kenya | MoE&F | KFS | Collect data of the projects |
| REDD+ and AR-CDM projects | Monitoring of REDD+ & AR-CDM projects in Kenya | MoE&F | REDD+ and A/R CDM Projects | Provide data |
KFS leads the data management function: collecting, verifying and uploading data to the FIP, managing access rights, and maintaining the servers.
| Item | Activity / data | Lead institution | Institution | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | KFS | Manage the updating of data/information including providing access rights |
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | KEFRI | Provide data/information to be uploaded to FIP |
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | Survey of Kenya | Provide data/information to be uploaded to FIP |
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | ICRAF | Provide data/information to be uploaded to FIP |
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | DRSRS | Provide data/information to be uploaded to FIP |
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | Universities | Provide data/information to be uploaded to FIP |
| Data/Information update | Collection, verification & Uploading of data/Information | KFS | Other institutions | Provide data/information to be uploaded to FIP |
| Server Management | Maintenance and renewal of hard and soft ware | KFS | KFS | The maintenance and renewal |
| Server Management | Maintenance and renewal of hard and soft ware | KFS | MoE&F | Support budget for the maintenance and renewal |
| Server Management | Maintenance and renewal of hard and soft ware | KFS | Treasury | Support budget for the maintenance and renewal |
| Server Management | Publish data | KFS | DRSRS | Support budget for the maintenance and renewal |
| Server Management | Store data | KFS | Survey of Kenya | Support budget for the maintenance and renewal |
| Server Management | Receive data | KFS | MoE&F | Support budget for the maintenance and renewal |
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, National Forest Monitoring System in the Republic of Kenya, Version 1 (Draft), February 2021. Chapter 7.1, Institutional arrangements for the monitoring function.
Source: Draft NFMS/FIP Data Sharing Protocol, version 1.0, Kenya Forest Service and State Department for Forestry (July 2026).