KENYA Kenya has very little rainforest (mostly montane forest) cover, and these scattered patches are being further degraded for fuelwood and building material. Overall forest loss in Kenya has been moderate over the past generation—5 percent of the country's forest cover was lost between 1990 and 2005. Primary forest cover also fell by 5 percent over the same period and now cover around 700,000 hectares. Deforestation rates have decreased slightly since the end of the 1990s.

Kenya is world famous for its safari wildlife, and 12.3 percent of its land area is currently under some form of protection. The country has 1,103 species of birds, 261 mammals, 407 reptiles, 76 amphibians, and 6,500 species of plants.

The most immediate threats to Kenya's forests are subsistence activities and agricultural expansion. In recent years conflicts between forest squatters and police have escalated as the government tries to crack down on deforestation. In 2005, the government evicted 10,000-50,000 families from the edge of the Mau Forest in the Rift Valley as part of its campaign to protect the country's natural resources.

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Suggested reading - Books

• Lonely Planet Kenya
• Kenya (A to Z)
• Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania
• Kenya Travel Map
• The Rough Guide to Kenya
• Footprint Kenya
• Birds of Eastern Africa
• Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa: All the Reptiles of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi

Image copyright Google Earth, MDA EarthSet, DigitalGlobe 2005

CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile
World Resources Institute


Last updated: 4 Feb 2006