Mount Kenya Forests

Policy Responses

As a result of the survey report, a number of important policy measures were taken by the Kenyan Government in late 1999 and 2000. They include:

• The appointment of a new Chief Conservator of Forests to head the Forest Department (October 1999);


• The establishment of a country-wide ban on the commercial exploitation of all forest reserves in Kenya (December 1999); and,


• The designation of Mt. Kenya National Reserve to provide a more strict conservation status to the entire forest belt (July 2000). The newly established National Reserve was accompanied with a shift in management from Forest Department to Kenya Wildlife Service.

In 2002, a new study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the new management practices put in place since 2000. The study revealed significant improvement in the state of conservation of the forests.