Title: "Arabuko-Sokole Forest Management and Conservation Project, Kenya"

Project number: B7-5041/95.07/VIII/FOR

Amount: 1.900.000 ECU

Contractor: Birdlife International - NGO (Cambridge - UK)

Field: sustainable management /Conservation

Country: Kenya

Date of signature: 29.12.95; Date of receipt by the Commission: 31.01.96

Duration: 5 years

The project will develop mitigating measures to threats of forest degradation (the loss of biodiversity, soil and water protection, and present levels of unsustainable resource exploitation) through sustainable collaborative and participatory management systems which improve the quality of life of forest adjacent communities.

Objectives:

• To enhance the sustainable management of the forest and conserve its functional values of biodiversity, soil and water protection and social-economic and cultural benefits to forest adjacent communities;
• To promote community participation in forest conservation;
• To enable forest adjacent communities to promote their welfare and become less reliant on the forest through:
• On-farm production of forest products;
• On-farm collection and maintenance of water supplies;
• Alternative sources of income from conservation-supporting income generating activities;
• To promote and develop sustainable use of forest resources (especially the Brachylaena huillensis used for carving);
• To develop the potential for, and promotion of, forest-based eco-tourism;
• To promote and develop local capacity in conservation research and education;
• To secure sustainable institutional arrangements which will ensure the conservation of the forest in perpetuity.

Activities:

The broad components of the project are:

Natural forest management and conservation programme including:

• Forest zoning and patrol beats;
• Licensing to be discussed for both domestic and commercial users;
• Wildlife management (methods to control elephants raid farms);
• Transport;
• Communications;
• Outpost rehabilitation.

Rural development programme:

• on-farm water supply (aims to tackle water supply at household level through the extension service);
• on-farm tree-planting (targeting farmers within the sub-location identified by surveys and discussions with the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Management Team (ASFMT). Once farmers have started to grow trees, monitoring and follow-up work will form an increasingly important part of the work;
• on-farm income generation aiming to seek alternative sources of income (i.g. butterfly farming and bee-keeping);

Visitor and conservation education programme:

• visitor programme development (developing of trails and other facilities of visitors);
• conservation education component developed along the visitor programme since many of the facilities (like the visitor and interpretation and the nature trails) can be utilised for the same purpose.

Training, monitoring and evaluation programme to ensure satisfactory execution of the programme.

Project co-ordination: a project co-ordinator will collaborate with the Forest Department (FD) and the Kenya Wildlife services (KWS) Memorandum understanding (MoU) Secretariat over all aspects of the co-ordination and implementation of the project.

Results expected:

• Increased effectiveness of the conservation and management activities in maintaining biodiversity;
• Increased community participation in forest conservation activities;
• Improved welfare conditions of forest adjacent communities; Increased potential for forest based -eco-tourism;
• Increased local capacity in conservation research and education;
• Sustainable institutional arrangements to ensure the conservation of the forest perpetuity ensured.

Beneficiaries:

Local institutions, local communities, research institutes, schools.

Implementation strategy:

Technical assistance; equipment and supplies; local personnel; small scale works; running costs.

The first interim report:

this report on the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Management and Conservation Project (ASFMCP) covers the development period from late 1993 to reporting year 1996. The work plan provides a detailed breakdown of the planning so far , and explanations of the limited changes from the original terms of references. Under the budget, revisions of staffing and salaries, and vehicles are outlined. All take account of changed circumstances on the ground, particularly the strengthened community focus through Kenya Wild life Service's Partnership Programme (KWS), and the success of community butterfly farming in the forest adjacent community through the work of Kipepo.

Natural Forest Management and Conservation: there are no plans to alter the goals here, with the issues of zoning and patrol beats, licensing and wildlife management (particularly of elephants) still firmly on the agenda and in the preliminary work-plan. Problem animal control continues to be a critical part of the agenda.

Rural Development: is the most critical component. The three parallel themes, of on-farm water supply, three growing and income generation are still active. Rather than running separately, however, these three components are increasingly likely to fuse within the orbit of a community programme which draws and builds on existing experience with the community, from the Kipepo butterfly farm programme (which has also involved some tree planting and community water capture through tank-building), from FD extension. Commercial plantation around the forest are expected to be included in joint patrolling and protection activity.

Visitor and conservation education programme: remains intact..It remains the case that the potential for tourism in the forest is very largely unrealised and it is intended that a critical focus for activity in 1997 will be to boost numbers. KWS intend to introduce revenue collection at the earliest opportunity to begin to contribute to the costs of managing the forest.

Training, Monitoring and Evaluation: there are no significant changes from the original Terms of reference. The critical objective is to try and ensure that training is organised to benefit as many members of staff as possible. The project will support some additional activities, for example visits to other sites of interest in the coastal area, to broaden the guides' experience of dealing with tourists, and widen their appreciation of the other attractions available on the coast. The programme will seek to look at the possibility of using guides in working with the community, both for recruitment and to explore better relations.