Making Participatory Forest Management work in Kenya (Policy Brief)

Summary

Participatory Forest Management (PFM) is part of a wider initiative to devolve power of management anddecision making from the government to the local communities. Participatory Forest Management (PFM) implementation in Kenya is at early stages with majority of the sites being in their fifth year. Two future PFMscenarios are beginning to emerge. In the first communities are in joint agreement with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) in state owned forests with varying degrees of responsibility and decision making. This is a modified form of Joint Forest management (JFM). In the second communities traditionally own and manage the forests; an approach which is known as Traditional Communily Based ForestManagement (TCBFM). The benefits and implementation strategies vary from one forest to another. These experiences provide important lessons for successful implementation of PFM in Kenya.