The aftermath of World Environment Day which is commemorated every June gives us the opportunity to reflect on our conservation efforts as a nation. Kenya has much to learn from peers across the globe. One such example is Costa Rica, which had the world's highest deforestation rates in the 1990s. Unsustainable agricultural expansion and logging led to Costa Rica losing over 75% of its original forest cover.
Sadly, Kenya is on a similar path, prioritizing unsustainable development and profit over conservation, resulting in a decline in forest cover to approximately 7.2%. In response to its deforestation crisis, the government of Costa Rica introduced the Payment for Ecological Services (PES) program in the 1990s. This program provided economic incentives to citizens to restore and conserve forests, resulting in over 18,000 households directly benefiting from the program by 2021. As a result, Costa Rica managed to reverse its deforestation trend and increased its forest cover to over 52% of its territory.
To combat deforestation, Kenya should prioritize working with indigenous communities to implement localized solutions for forest protection, reforestation, and agroforestry. Social-economic incentives should be adopted to encourage people to choose conservation as a pathway to development. Long-term goal strategies that entrench sustainable use of forests must be adopted for sustainable forest cover.
On the other hand, the government of Kenya should encourage sustainable consumption among the population while ensuring tree planting remains a priority. Nearly 95% of the population in Kenya still uses firewood as a source of energy, leading to the largest percentage of trees being felled for charcoal in urban areas and firewood in rural homes. The availability of alternative, cheaper sources of energy should be fast-tracked by subsidizing LPG and other options.
Kenya needs to strengthen policies regulating large-scale timber industries, such as requiring logging factories to grow and maintain a determined acreage of plantation forest against their level of production. Incentives, such as tax exemptions, should be put in place for companies that exceed their allocated quotas to encourage them to plant more trees that will serve as their source of raw material. As a way of bolstering agroforestry, factories should also be encouraged to contract individual farmers to plant and supply them with timber on a commercial but sustainable basis.
It is crucial to foster public-private partnerships, particularly in the restoration of community forests across Kenya. These forests are currently shrinking but have the potential to boost the country's tourism industry. For example, in Costa Rica, eco-tourism is thriving and attracts millions of tourists annually. Despite having a population of only 5.2 million, the country welcomed over 3 million tourists in 2019, with 60% of them drawn to its eco-conservation efforts. By prioritizing the restoration and protection of community forests, Kenya can leverage sustainable tourism to safeguard its ecological future, create employment opportunities for local communities, and earn revenues.