Establishing a biocultural heritage territory to protect Kenya’s Kaya Forests: mid-term project workshop
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
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Abstract: This report provides the proceedings of the mid-term project workshop, held in Rabai on 7–9 March 2023. The three-day workshop brought together Kaya elders, village elders, women, youth, local government Chiefs, officials from county government departments for culture, environment and agriculture, NMK, Kenya Forest Service, a Member of the County Assembly and the Minister for Social Services, Gender and Culture. The workshop reviewed progress with project activities, explored key challenges and strategies to address them, and actively engaged the community in planning activities for the coming year. The project is working in Rabai’s 10 villages, which have about 80,000 residents in an area of about 20,000 hectares, and works with five community researchers (each covering two villages) who are part of the project team to co-design and facilitate activities. It aims to significantly reduce Kaya forest degradation, protect and restore endangered endemic trees and the elephant shrew, triple incomes, revitalise traditional knowledge and culture, and restore agrobiodiversity and butterflies on-farm. The project has: established biocultural heritage territory (BCHT) self-governance institutions at village and landscape level, which include Kaya elders; restored endangered multiple-use trees in Kaya forests and on-farm; trained villagers in sustainable products (brooms, honey, coconut oil); and installed fuel-efficient stoves and briquette presses to reduce pressure on Kaya forests.