The Forest To the northwest of Nairobi, lies the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley.

This escarpment was once covered in thick forest and has, for centuries, provided water and other valuable services for the communities of the area. In recent history, this forest was connected, in a contiguous belt that ran from Nairobi in the south, to the Aberdares in the northeast and to the escarpment in the west. Much of the area lies in a gazetted forest area known as the Kikuyu Escarpment Forest Reserve. Historically, this connected the dry forests of the eastern Rift Valley escarpment with the moist, more humid, upland forests of the southern Aberdares massif. However, that connectivity is largely fragmented now, with the Kijabe Forest Strip being the last prominent example of dry upland forest along the escarpment. Unfortunately, the Kijabe Forest Strip is under extreme pressure from illegal activities, with wholesale extraction of resources threatening the very existence of communities, and the water, soil and forest on which they depend. A key illustration of this catastrophic potential is the recent landslides in the Kijabe and Matathia areas which resulted in the loss of life and property. It is of primary importance that the forest, and the valuable ecosystem services that it provides, be protected and conserved, in order to ensure the foundation of development in the area. The Kijabe Forest Trust In response to the threat of losing the Kijabe Forest, a group of concerned individuals has come together to form the Kijabe Forest Trust. The Kijabe Forest Trust (KFT) is a private Trust registered under the Society Act of Kenya and that has been established for forest conservation activities in the Kijabe Escarpment area. We formed the Trust in 2013 and each of the Trustees has a link with the forest area. At the Trust, we believe that the degradation and deforestation cannot only be halted, but that sustainable, natural resource management can provide jobs and livelihoods that can, in turn, protect the forest for the future. Some examples of these

 initiatives are eco-tourism facilities, non-timber forest products, hiking and other adventure sports, payments of ecosystem services and a host of other forest related management activities. Some of these initiatives have already been started and the idea behind the Trust is to support and advocate for ongoing initiatives in the forest area. The Trusts four main goals can be summarized as: To provide a professional organization to act as a liaison between CBOs and KFS, KWS etc. for developing important planning mechanisms such as a Community Forest Management Plan. To provide an accountable organization that can support enforcement and other extension services for KFS and other stakeholders in the management of the forest. To connect the financial resources of the diaspora and other interested parties with the initiatives ongoing in the forest catchment area. To solicit investment for sustainable economic utilization of forest resources.

The Proposed Area of Operations

 The KFT is an initiative that is seeking to provide integral support to the conservation efforts in Kijabe Forest Strip. As the Board of Trustees, we represent a wide range of skills that we hope can be applied to ongoing efforts, and will help in achieving the above goals. Potential Resources for Forest Protection In accordance with the stated goals of the Trust, we are hoping to explore the following potential revenue-generating avenues for the Trust: 1) External donor funding: We anticipate trying to leverage the financial resources available from both small scale and large scale funding opportunities. We anticipate using these funds as the seed resources for establishing the Trusts capacity on the ground, including the recruitment of key personnel, community mapping, and designing and writing the community forest management plan. 2) Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES): We all depend on things that the earth gives us for free. In Kijabe, water and soil stabilization come directly from the forest and they come freely. We would propose exploring the use of a payment for ecosystem service scheme, where users contribute to the ongoing management costs, in order to provide a more sustainable source of funding for the Trusts ongoing forest management costs. 3) Attracting external investment: The long term protection of the forest will ultimately be dependent on attracting investment in the forest which will create livelihood options for those living around the forest. Currently, a lack of such options is the main driver of deforestation. The Trust hopes to accomplish this by leveraging our connections with the eco-tourism markets, and other non-consumptive utilization sectors to invest directly in the area. The Trustees Erik Hersman Co-Founder of Ushahidi, Afrigadget and Director at the iHub, Nairobi erik@kft.co.ke David Kuria Founder and Director of Kijabe Environmental Volunteers (KENVO) david@kft.co.ke

 Mohanjeet Brar Owner of Gamewatchers Safaris and Chairman of Ecotourism Kenya mohanjeet@kft.co.ke Mwangi Githiru Director of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification for Africa at Wildlife Works Carbon mwangi@kft.co.ke Peter Morrison Grant-making Manager at Elma Philanthropies, New York City peter@kft.co.ke Bryan Adkins Director of Regional Engagement for REDD+ at Wildlife Works Carbon bryan@kft.co.ke How you Can Help We need your support in this initiative. Whether your support is financial, advocacy or simply encouragement, we want you to be involved. We cant do much without the explicit support of those that know this forest, know the risk if we lose this forest, and those that want to help ensure its protection in the future. We are currently looking to hire some key positions to get the Trusts operations up and running. In order to do that, we need to raise some resources from partners like you. If you would like to consider being a partner in this important initiative you can visit our website at www.kft.co.ke or write directly to any of the Trustees at the addresses above. Additionally, you can reach any of us at info@kft.co.ke or donate@kft.co.ke The Kijabe Forest Trust P.O. Box 102-00220 Kijabe, Kenya Web: www.kft.co.ke Email: info@kft.co.ke Twitter: @kijabeforest