– Lack of capacity building, awareness creation and training for the forest adjacent communities
– Illegal farming activities because of the remoteness and tough terrain of the forest
– Illegal burning of charcoal and raw wood fuel
– Brewing of illicit alcohol and illegal growing of bhang
– Illegal grazing and overgrazing
– Over exploitation of dominant medicinal trees
– Unlimited entry and exit through the forest and illegal routes

Kenya is known for its pristine shoreline dotted with Mangrove forests that have been heavily deforested because of population pressure and need for construction materials and wood fuel. Without any other source of income, communities living in Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu Counties have turned on Mangrove forests which they harvest unsustainably to meet basic needs. The 600 kilometers of Kenya Coastline has lost almost 60% of its Mangrove forests with some species like Heritiera littoralis almost disappearing in their natural habitat in the Tana Delta and Jomvu in Mombasa.

”These are the forests that contain biodiversity, these are the forests that help us retain water when it rains and keep our rivers flowing, these are the forests that many future generations will need.” – Wangari Maathai
Kenya’s source of rivers originate from the highlands terrestrial forests. These rivers feed fresh water into the Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria (The source of the river Nile – the longest river in the world), Lakes Nakuru (known for its pink laden shows – flamingos, Naivasha, Elementaita, Baringo and Bogoria etc. 95% of the piped water supply in Nairobi originates from the central highlands forest, while the Rift Valley forests form the origin of the water that drains into lake Victoria. Without the Mau Forest, the Mara and Serengeti game parks in Kenya and Tanzania will not survive and so there won’t be the world famous annual Wildebeest migration. We have no option but to build and protect healthy forests ecosystems