11. WOOD USE AND FOREST POLICY IMPLICATIONS
11.2.1 Informal rules
11.2.2.2 Forest Act
This is the mam legislation, which addresses reservation, protection, management, enforcement and utilization of forests and forest resources on Government Land. It was originally drafted to support the 1957 Forest Policy. The act specifically covers:
• gazettement, alteration of boundaries and de-gazettement of Forest Reserves,
• declaration of Nature Reserves within Forest Reserves, and regulation of activities within such Reserves
• issuance of licenses for activities within Forest Reserves,
• prohibition of certain activities in Forest Reserves or unalienated Government Land (not a Forest Reserve, not set a side for public use, not leased or licensed for occupation by the Government) except under license,
• enforcement of provisions of the Act, including penalties and powers to enforcing officers,
• power of the minister to make rules with respect to the sale or disposal of forest products, occupation of forests, licensing and entry into forests. This prerogative has been taken with the Forests (General) Rules, which sets rules for sale of forest products and specifies royalty rates for these products.
Although the Act provides a sound basic structure for forest management, it has a number of deficiencies. For example it only covers gazetted forests and does not cover the needs of local communities, leading to conflict between local communities and the state and is contributing to forest degradation. Furthermore, it does not allow multiple use of forest reserves and does not recognize the importance of environmental protection.
In practice it is evident that Kenya is losing its best nature forest in a rapid rate and woodcarving has partly contributed to this. However, the forests loss is not attributed to the illegal removal of timber but to excisions as provided for in the Act. For excisions to occur (or additions) the provisions in the Act do not require parliamentary discussions and approval, a procedure which applies to mo~t of the other Acts. This lack of checks and balances and of means to object, have been used, for example, to allocate Karura and Ngong Forests (near Nairobi) to private developers. When the public knew that this had been done silently, an outcry ensued in late 1998, which culminated in the removal of the head of Forestry
Department in Kenya just a year later. Since then, public sensitivity to encroachment of forests has been high, and this has affected the wood supply to carvers as attested by the volumes over the past 2-3 years.
11.2.2.3 Presidential Ban on Logging of Indigenous Timber of 1986
A Presidential Decree of uncertain date (usually dated 1986) bans felling of indigenous trees. This was mentioned in Chapter 5. The decree is problematic because there is no legislation to support it. Other policies are supported by legislation such as the Forest Policy that is supported by the Forest Act. As such, implementation can be carried out under the power afforded to the minister by the Forest Act or by other laws for cases outside the forest reserves. However, poor implementation has led to the illegal sourcing of woodcarving timber from state forests to this day and clarification on implementation is needed urgently.
11.2.2.4 Wildlife Policy
Conservation and management of the country's wildlife resources have recently (1990) been articulated within National Parks. The policy specifies non-consumptive use of forest resources with emphasis on recreation and tourism as the main sources of revenue. The main thrust of this policy is to promote benefit sharing between tourists and the adjacent local communities so as to reduce the removal of natural resources directly from the parks. More recently (1991), Kenya Wildlife Service and the Forest Department implemented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which stipulates joint management of some forests rich in biodiversity, such as Shimba Hills, Arabuko Sokoke and others. The Forest Department collects revenue from forest products while the Kenya Wildlife Service is responsible for collection of tourism revenue. This joint management has helped to reduce the level of illegal activities in some of the forest areas, particularly the removal of Brachylaena huillensis and Combretum schumanii from Shimba Hills and Arabuko Sokoke Forests as well as Olea europaea and Combretum schumanii from Kibwezi and Chyulu Forests.
11.2.2.5 The Wildlife Act, Cap. 376 of 1976
The Wildlife Act closely interacts with the Forest Act. It includes the conservation of forests within National Parks, National Reserves and Sanctuaries. More recently (2000), major changes in the management of Kenya's indigenous forests has been made. Owing to the rising level of illegal activities in Kenya's forests largely due to poor management by the Forest Department, custody of all indigenous forests has been transferred to the Kenya Wildlife Service. This implies that less wood will be available to carvers, which has been confirmed in this study. Generally, the Kenya Wildlife Service has a strong infrastructure and committed staff and has received a high national and international profile in the recent years through activities such as promoting the ban on trade in ivory.
These factors were considered in the recent changes affecting custody of indigenous forests. However, while this development is encouraging, several practical and institutional issues need to be addressed. Firstly, the ability of the Kenya Wildlife Service in terms of personnel and financial resources is limited, particularly in the light of the new additional duties, and needs to be strengthened. Secondly, the Forest Department rangers who are now idle could impede the current initiatives of the Kenya Wildlife Service, as most of them are party to irregular activities. Thirdly, arguments have been advanced as to whether this recent decision is within the mandate of the Kenya Wildlife Service. However, the majority maintain that Kenya Wildlife Service custodianship of public resources goes beyond the narrow confines of wildlife to include other components of rich biological biodiversity, and that its involvement is one of the few practical options available to save forests. In he face of this debate, it is clear that in order to protect indigenous forests, amendments to the existing Policies and Acts have to be affected so6n.
11.2.2.6 Na.tional Food Policy: Sessional Paper No. 4 of 1981
Although the policy targets activities of the agricultural sector, it states that no further destruction of forests should occur in the light of their ecological importance and role in climate stabilization. However, while the national Food Policy stipulates that forests should