| National Forest Programme (NFP) Facility |
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The Kenyan forest sector is in the process of revival attempting to overcome the various problems confronting it now. Although forests play an important role in the livelihood of the people by providing a variety of goods and services, there has been inadequate attention to take advantage of the opportunities and to implement sustainable forest management. Although a Master Plan was prepared during 1991-1994 providing a framework for the development of the sector for a period of 25 years, a number of constraints undermined its effective implementation. Considering the current social and economic situation, development of forest sector needs to focus attention on poverty alleviation and ecological restoration. These concerns have been fully articulated in the current policies of the government including the proposed Forest Policy and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. However, considering the limited resources and the enormous resource use conflicts, it is imperative that the National Forest Programme (NFP) process can be carried forward only through an effective participatory mechanism. Support from the NFP Facility is sought to kick-start the process as a national initiative involving all the key stakeholders. Support from the Facility will be used to complement and strengthen ongoing initiatives, identify emerging issues that the sector will have to address and develop a framework for involvement of partners in implementation of the forest sector strategic plan. Further, the support from the Facility will also develop, test and refine joint forest management models for the ecologically sensitive forests, involving local communities while taking advantage of such initiatives from within and outside the country. |