Mount Kenya Forest
Summary: Conventional economic tools are poorly equipped to deal with the subsistence value of forest resources within the context of local livelihoods. Methods for economic valuation must be based on locally meaningful economic categories, rather than an inappropriate and externally imposed market paradigm, if they are to be realistic and practical. Using the case of Mount Kenya Forest, this paper demonstrates that recognition of the livelihood value of forest resources forms a key part of conservation planning and practice. As well as presenting a strong justification for forest conservation in the face of competing demands on scarce land and financial resources, local forest values provide insights into methods for forest conservation, which are both equitable and sustainable over the long-term. The paper concludes that attempts at forest conservation are unlikely to succeed unless they recognize the importance of forest resources in local livelihoods. Ignoring local use values not only marginalizes forest adjacent communities and jeopardizes their livelihoods, it also gives rise to the danger that forests will be under-valued and that forest management efforts will fail to achieve conservation goals.
Mount Kenya Forest covers an area of over 200,000 ha, lying on the slopes of Mount Kenya (5,199 m) in the central highlands of Kenya. The forest was gazetted as a reserve by the government in 1932. It consists of over 50,000 ha of indigenous forest cover and open grasslands, moorlands and scrub. As well as forming one of the largest contiguous blocks of indigenous forest in the country, Mount Kenya Forest has exceptional value in biodiversity terms. It contains diverse vegetation including several endemic afro-alpine plant species, and provides habitat to a wide range of fauna including four endemic bird species and four rare mammal species. It also forms one of the major water catchment areas in Kenya, from which the Tana and Ewaso Nyiro rivers rise.
Summary: Conventional economic tools are poorly equipped to deal with the subsistence value of forest resources within the context of local livelihoods. Methods for economic valuation must be based on locally meaningful economic categories, rather than an inappropriate and externally imposed market paradigm, if they are to be realistic and practical. Using the case of Mount Kenya Forest, this paper demonstrates that recognition of the livelihood value of forest resources forms a key part of conservation planning and practice. As well as presenting a strong justification for forest conservation in the face of competing demands on scarce land and financial resources, local forest values provide insights into methods for forest conservation, which are both equitable and sustainable over the long-term. The paper concludes that attempts at forest conservation are unlikely to succeed unless they recognize the importance of forest resources in local livelihoods. Ignoring local use values not only marginalizes forest adjacent communities and jeopardizes their livelihoods, it also gives rise to the danger that forests will be under-valued and that forest management efforts will fail to achieve conservation goals.
Mount Kenya Forest covers an area of over 200,000 ha, lying on the slopes of Mount Kenya (5,199 m) in the central highlands of Kenya. The forest was gazetted as a reserve by the government in 1932. It consists of over 50,000 ha of indigenous forest cover and open grasslands, moorlands and scrub. As well as forming one of the largest contiguous blocks of indigenous forest in the country, Mount Kenya Forest has exceptional value in biodiversity terms. It contains diverse vegetation including several endemic afro-alpine plant species, and provides habitat to a wide range of fauna including four endemic bird species and four rare mammal species. It also forms one of the major water catchment areas in Kenya, from which the Tana and Ewaso Nyiro rivers rise.