Landscape Restoration in Kenya Stocktaking of Key Innovations and Strategies

In Kenya, forest and landscape restoration (FLR) is a high priority on the government’s agenda, reflected by the large number of initiatives, legislations and policies associated with addressing degradation. These government policies, when implemented with strong communities’ participation, can also be part of a national strategy to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While these initiatives demonstrate a strong commitment to FLR and associated ecosystem services, implementing them at scale requires proper planning and assessment of the existing opportunities and resources. Towards this end, the Government established a multi-stakeholder Landscape Restoration Technical Working Group (LRTWG) in 2014 led by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to spearhead this planning and assessment processes. The LRTWG carried out an assessment of potential restoration opportunities and identified the most pressing land use challenges, restoration options and opportunities. This study is part of this process and sought to undertake a survey of a selection of successful FLR projects in Kenya, from which lessons can be drawn and scaled up to the national level. With a focus on key innovations, this work aims at providing a key building block towards a National Restoration Strategy, which will drive Kenya’s stated ambitious goal of restoring 5.1 million hectares of land – including forests, rangelands and croplands – by 2030.