The National Forest Reference Level for REDD+ Implementation

Ministry of Environment Climate Change and Forestry

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Abstract: Kenya is a low forest cover country with a total forest area of 3,462,536 ha or about 5.9% of the total national area. The government of Kenya has a goal of enhancing forest cover to a minimum of 10 % of the National area by 2030. As a party to the UNFCCC,Kenya has committed to contribute to Global climate change mitigation and adaptation and has submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in line with the requirements of the Paris Climate change Agreement. The forest sector was identified as key to the realization of the national goals due to its comparatively high abatement potential. Based on data collected as part of this process,deforestation in the country is estimated at103,368 ha per year (0.17% of the national area) but conservation efforts achieve about 90,477ha of reforestation annually (0.15% of national area). Kenya is establishing a Forest Reference Level(FRL) for REDD+to;1) exploit opportunities for reducing current emissions arising from deforestation and forest degradation,and 2) take advantage of opportunities for enhancement of carbon stock arising from afforestation,reforestation and restoration of degraded forest areas.