Kakamega Forest Conservation and Fencing Project

Biodiversity conservation, reduced encroachment, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, tourism boost, water catchment protection, community livelihoods

The Kakamega Forest Conservation and Fencing Project is a partnership between Rhino Ark Charitable Trust, Kenya Forest Service, and Kakamega and Vihiga county governments to fence Kenya's last remnant of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. The 238 square kilometer forest, first gazetted as Trust Forest in 1933, is a critical biodiversity hotspot with over 450 bird species, 487 butterfly species, and species found nowhere else in Kenya. The fencing project, projected to cost KSh 378 million over two years, aims to curb encroachment, illegal logging, and human-wildlife conflict. Kakamega County contributed KSh 100 million and Vihiga County KSh 30 million of the KSh 230 million raised. The forest was nominated to UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List in 2010 by the Kenya Wildlife Service. BIOTA East, a German-funded project, worked in the forest from 2001-2010 creating biodiversity inventories.

Preserves Kenya's only tropical rainforest and one of the most biodiverse sites in East Africa. The forest is a critical water catchment for the Isiukhu and Yala rivers feeding Lake Victoria, supports local communities, and represents a unique global heritage as the easternmost outlier of Congo Basin forests.