Abstract:
Kakamega Forest is one of the unique ecosystems in
Kenya since it is one of the remaining tropical
ecosystems in the country. Kakamega forest has
received a lot of government attention spanning from
1933 when it was first gazetted by the colonial
government. As is the case with other forests, it has
experienced contestations and contentions regarding
how the government of the day manages it. Since the
gazzettement back in 1933, the government adopted
a ‘top-down’ model which ignored completely the
concerns and position of the locals, who had for
many years interacted with the forest. Therefore,
based on this, the paper traces the historical
trajectory of the conservation of the forest from the
time it was gazetted in 1933. The objective of the
study was to examine the government's approach to
the management of the forest and the reactions of the
locals towards t its conservation. The study adopted
a historical approach in which heavy reliance on
archival sources was pursued. These entailed the
development plans; Forest Department reports as
well as the Annual District reports. To complement
the archival sources, oral informants were conducted
using purposive and snowball were sampling. The
inclusion criteria were those who were aged above
60 years and lived adjacent to the forest. It was
established that the government’s gazzettement of the
forest was followed by heavy logging and the
interests of the locals were largely ignored. Besides,
the study was able to establish that there were frosty
relationships between the Forest Department and the
people from the myriad of petitions that they were
able to present. The study recommends that the
Kenya Forest Service ought to prioritize the concerns
of the community in the conservation strategy that it
adopts. The authors believe that the study will be of
benefit to conservation stakeholders, historians, and scholars in the environmental realms.
Description:
Kakamega Forest is one of the unique ecosystems in
Kenya since it is one of the remaining tropical
ecosystems in the country. Kakamega forest has
received a lot of government attention spanning from
1933 when it was first gazetted by the colonial
government. As is the case with other forests, it has
experienced contestations and contentions regarding
how the government of the day manages it. Since the
gazzettement back in 1933, the government adopted
a ‘top-down’ model which ignored completely the
concerns and position of the locals, who had for
many years interacted with the forest. Therefore,
based on this, the paper traces the historical
trajectory of the conservation of the forest from the
time it was gazetted in 1933. The objective of the
study was to examine the government's approach to
the management of the forest and the reactions of the
locals towards t its conservation. The study adopted
a historical approach in which heavy reliance on
archival sources was pursued. These entailed the
development plans; Forest Department reports as
well as the Annual District reports. To complement
the archival sources, oral informants were conducted
using purposive and snowball were sampling. The
inclusion criteria were those who were aged above
60 years and lived adjacent to the forest. It was
established that the government’s gazzettement of the
forest was followed by heavy logging and the
interests of the locals were largely ignored. Besides,
the study was able to establish that there were frosty
relationships between the Forest Department and the
people from the myriad of petitions that they were
able to present. The study recommends that the
Kenya Forest Service ought to prioritize the concerns
of the community in the conservation strategy that it
adopts. The authors believe that the study will be of
benefit to conservation stakeholders, historians, and scholars in the environmental realms