Government Appeals for Donor Support to Restore 10.6 Million Hectares of Degraded Land
The Government has called on development partners, the private sector, county governments and local communities to increase investments in Kenya's forestry sector to accelerate the restoration of 10.6 million hectares of degraded land and strengthen the country's resilience to climate change.
Speaking during a donors' round-table breakfast meeting in Nairobi, Forestry Principal Secretary Gitonga Mugambi said restoring Kenya's degraded landscapes requires strong partnerships, noting that the government cannot achieve its ambitious environmental targets alone.
The meeting, organised by the State Department for Forestry in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), brought together development partners, government officials and key stakeholders to explore strategic investment opportunities in the forestry sector.
Mugambi said Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands account for nearly 89 per cent of the country's landmass and present significant opportunities for biodiversity conservation and sustainable economic development despite facing persistent challenges such as deforestation, desertification, recurrent droughts and climate change.
He said the government is implementing the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy 2023–2032, which seeks to restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded landscapes while contributing to the national target of achieving 30 per cent tree cover by 2032.
"The restoration agenda is more than an environmental initiative. It is an investment in climate action, economic growth, poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods," Mugambi said.
The Principal Secretary urged development partners to scale up investments that will not only restore forests but also create employment opportunities for youth and women through community-based conservation initiatives.
He noted that the government has shifted from relying solely on the Kenya Forest Service to a more inclusive, community-led restoration model that empowers local communities to conserve forests while improving their livelihoods.
According to Mugambi, the approach has already delivered positive results in Marakwet, where community-led restoration projects have successfully rehabilitated degraded landscapes and have since been replicated in other regions.
He emphasized that providing communities with alternative sources of income encourages them to become active partners in conservation rather than contributors to forest degradation.
To strengthen the restoration agenda, Mugambi said the government plans to expand agroforestry by planting one billion cocoa trees alongside another one billion avocado trees, a move aimed at increasing household incomes, enhancing food security, creating jobs and boosting export earnings.
He also appealed for investment in oil-producing crops to reduce Kenya's dependence on imported cooking oil, calling on development partners to support the initiative through financial contributions and seedling donations.
The PS further highlighted innovative community projects, including modern livestock management systems that keep cattle in designated feeding centres instead of allowing grazing inside forests, thereby protecting ecosystems while improving livestock productivity.
Mugambi concluded by urging stakeholders to commit to long-term investment in community-driven restoration programmes, saying collaborative action is essential to securing Kenya's environmental future.
"Kenya belongs to all of us. By working together, we can restore degraded landscapes, improve livelihoods and build a more climate-resilient future for generations to come," he said.
