July 2023 Vol.8 No.1

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Original Research Article

Impact of Participatory Forest Management on Livelihood and Forest Cover in Lembus Ecosystem, Baringo County, Kenya

Samuel Okoth Ondeng^1*, Raphael Achola K’apiyo², Boniface Oduor Oindo²

¹National Environment Management Authority. P.O. Box 67839 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
²Department of Environmental Science. Maseno University, School of Agriculture, Food Security and Environmental Science, Maseno University, P. O. Private Bag, Maseno, Kenya

*Corresponding Author's E-mail: samondeng@yahoo.com

Received: 02 February 2023  I  Accepted: 26 July 2023 I Published: 29 July 2023
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.

Abstract

Globally, forests provide critical ecosystem goods and services that directly support livelihood of millions of people. They also play a significant role to the expansion of many economies around the world. With a steady decline in global forests cover due to expansion of agricultural activities in 70% of countries around the globe, the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 convened strategic meeting to devise integrated approaches to halt and reverse the negative impacts of human activities on the physical environ-ment and promote environmentally sustainable development. This led to introduction of participatory forests management (PFM) approaches, which were later incorporated into the forests policies and laws in many countries around the world, including the Sub Saharan Africa. In Kenya, with a forest cover of 7%, PFM became a principal tool in improving forest cover, while enhancing people’s livelihood. However, recent reports indicate an escalation of poverty rate coupled with high degradation and deforestation of forest ecosystems. Whereas limited information existed on the impact of PFM on the livelihood as recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, its contribution to the forest cover required further investigation. The study therefore addressed the existing gaps on the contribution of participatory forest management on the livelihood and forest tree cover. It adopted cross-sectional descriptive research design and application of GIS software. Purposive sampling was used and data analysed within a sample size of 384 persons derived from Fisher’s formula. Regression analysis was used with the results showing a positive impact (p-value <0.05) on both livelihood and forest cover. In the conclusion, there was a need for enhanced awareness creation on least practiced user rights and improve on the opportunities of already existing ones. A regulated PELIS should be particularly encouraged in public forests due to its positive impact on forest cover.

Keywords: Community Forest Association, Livelihood, Participatory Forest Management, Plantation Establishment and Livelihood improvement Scheme, User rights