The benefits and constraints of participation in forest management. The case of Taita Hills, Kenya

Despite accommodating a wide variety of endemic flora and fauna, the indigenous mountain rainforests of East Africa are being depleted. Some patches remain in the Taita Hills of Kenya and benefit from their management as forest reserves, with limited access to local communities, by the Kenyan government. Recently, through the Forest Act of 2005, the government began to grant user rights to forest-adjacent dwellers through participatory forest management initiatives. This study, conducted in February 2007 among groups engaged in forest-related activities and living near the Ngangao, Mbololo, Mwambirwa, and Chawia forest reserves, aims to offer insights into local people’s perceptions about the benefits and constraints of participation in forest management during the transformation of forest policy.