Help us restore a biodiversity hotspot that is globally recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA), Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), and a World Heritage site
Photo credit banner: © Nature Kenya
Photo credit page: © Nature Kenya
Challenge
We've identified 6,200 hectares in need of urgent restoration, and an additional 1,740 hectares of wrongly-sited plantation that need to be converted to indigenous forest.
The degradation of Mount Kenya Forest is a major threat to the survival of the rich biodiversity heritage in the Mount Kenya ecosystem and in the larger Ewaso Nyiro and Tana River Basins.
Solution
The restoration initiative is being supported by diverse local stakeholders, who are mobilizing resources towards raising the $15 million needed.
In Mount Kenya, Nature Kenya has catalyzed the development of a restoration strategy which targets sites inside and buffer areas outside the forest. This work was informed by an Ecosystem Services Assessment, which looked at issues of carbon, water, culture, recreation, harvestable goods and cultivated goods services provided by the forest. The assessment was an initial step towards the quantification of services from the forest. These sites are under the jurisdiction of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Community Forest Associations (CFAs). The work undertaken by Nature Kenya (BirdLife in Kenya) demonstrates best practice and provides a pilot for scaling up to the total goal. Mount Kenya is constantly under threat from farming and grazing, logging, and even some negative impacts from tourism.
