By Sharon Atieno
In a first of its kind in Kenya, Nyandarua County has launched its Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Strategy which will run from 2021-2030.
With the forest cover in Nyandarua county already surpassing the country’s 7% cover at 20%, the ten- year plan seeks to restore deforested and degraded landscapes for resilient socio-economic development, improved ecological functioning as well as contribute to the achievement of national aspirations and international obligations.
A key target of the county through this strategy is the restoration of 2400 hectares of deforested and degraded by 2030.
Speaking during the launch in Ol-Kalou, Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia said they will adopt a ten-ten approach, whereby they will grow 10 million trees in 10 years.
So far, he said, they have been planting two million trees per year in the five years of his rule as governor.
With the implementation of this strategy set to cost Ksh. 6,834,221,216, including a three-year maintenance period, Kimemia said:“ The beauty of this strategy is that we shall be marshalling a robust restoration of resource mobilization strategy to make sure that we implement this document.”
He added that the implementation of the strategy will be inclusive of all from the village level to the county level with key consideration for women and youth who are at the centre of restoration eforts.
Recommending the move by the County, Julius Kamau, the Chief Conservator of Forests said the strategy aligns perfectly with the country’s commitment to restore deforested and degraded landscapes.
“It provides a framework on forest and landscape restoration in the country to conserve and manage landscapes sustainably for present and future generations ,”Kamau said.
He added that Nyandarua County is among the counties that have improved in both tree and forest cover standing at 27.5% and 26.2% respectively based on the 2021 forest assessment results.
With the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Kenya being a facilitator in the development of the strategy Jackson Kiplagat Head of Conservation, WWF-Kenya said the organization is looking forward to working with counties in forest landscape restoration in different parts of the country in line with national and global commitments.
The strategy is structured into six chapters. Chapter one deals with the general introduction while looking at the context for FLR at the global, national, and local scales. The chapter also lays down the Nyandarua FLR strategy goals, vision, and mission as coined by stakeholders as well as spells out the guiding principles for FLR.
Chapter two looks at the problem analysis and gives a quick look at historical changes in the forested landscape in the county while chapter three looks at the supportive institutional framework including relevant laws, regulations, and policies in which the Nyandarua FLR is anchored.
Whereas chapter five focuses on monitoring and evaluation, learning and reporting framework, chapter six looks at the action plan including the relevant timelines and budget for various FLR sites and interventions.
This implementation of this strategy will go along way in achieving the restoration of 5.1 million hectares of degraded landscape that the country seeks to achieve.
