Farmers in Nyandarua County who reside near the Olboloosat forest station are benefiting from the Kenya Forest Service’s complementary forest conservation and management efforts.
Farmers who are members of a community forest association (CFA) benefit from the forest because of the plantation establishment livelihood support program (PELIS), which permits the CFA to pursue low cover crop farming alongside newly planted trees on plantation forest land.
The strategy allows both crops and trees to survive in a symbiotic connection, with farmers weeding their crops while simultaneously allowing the trees to thrive.
Through the Green Zones Development Support Project Phase II (GZDSPII), a KFS- Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB) funded project, farmers have also benefitted with exotic tree seeds which they sow in their community nurseries for planting on the plantation areas. The farmers were also supplied with fertilizer and potatoes seeds to support livelihood.
The Chief Conservator of Forests Mr Julius Kamau during a tour of the forest station met with the Olboloosat CFA members who expressed gratitude for the cordial cooperation with KFS that has also seen the youth engaged as community forest scouts to compliment KFS rangers in forest patrols.
The farmers noted how the PELIS program has changed their livelihood with farmers reaping up to 53 bags of potatoes from a half-acre portion of forest land in one crop rotation cycle of three months. The farmers can plant the farm atleast thrice within a year.
Mr Kamau noted that GZDSPII has supported 10.07 Ha of plantation establishment through PELIS since 2020. He also noted that the Service was working through the project to revise the participation forest management plan for the forest station.
In another visit to the Ndaragwa forest station where communities are also benefitting through PELIS, the CCF toured a section of a forest where CFA members have collaborated with KFS to fence off a 100Ha of degraded forest land to support natural regeneration. The farmers are also benefitting through technical support to enhance silvicultural activities such as the pruning of plantation trees where they derive fuelwood from the branches. So far, the CFA has practised the method on a 5 Ha portion of the forest.
The CCF noted that the complementarity between the Ndaragwa CFA and KFS has curtailed cases of illegal activities such as poaching of cedar with community members being vigilant and reporting any cases.
During the visit, the CCF was accompanied by Ag. Senior Deputy CCF (Field Operations) Patrick Kariuki, GZDSPII Project Manager Jerome Mwanzia, and the Head of Central Highlands Conservancy, Samuel Ihure among others.
