Kefa M. Wamichwe Project

Kefa Mwaura Wamichwe
Kenya Forest Service
P. O. Box 30513-00100
NAIROBI, KENYA
www.kfs.go.ke
kmwamichwe@yahoo.com

Kefa Mwaura Wamichwe is a Masters of Science student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology(JKUAT) in Kenya. His research is in forest rehabilitation in developing countries. A brief description of his project follows:

APPLICATION OF ECOSYSTEM DECISION SUPORT TOOLS IN FOREST REHABILITATION: A CASE STUDY OF EASTERN MAU FOREST

The application of Decision Support System (DSS) has become common in ecological management. Several studies have been conducted in Ecosystem management in developed countries. In Eastern Africa this concept is catching up and currently the Nile Basin water resources planning and management (WRPM) project has commissioned experts to develop the Nile Basin Decision Support System for water resources planning and management.

Application of DSS in forest rehabilitation programmes is not common in developing countries where there is remarkable forest degradation and deforestation. In Kenya The degradation of Mau forest complex ecosystem has resulted in International and local concern due to its strategic ecological functions that includes water catchment for Mara River that transverses the famous Masai Mara game reserve. The eastern Mau Forest which is part of Mau Complex is the source of Njoro River that drains into Lake Nakuru National park which has the highest number of visitors in Kenya. The Government of Kenya has appointed Mau Complex rehabilitation Steering Committee chaired by the Prime Minister. The challenges facing the committee includes societal goals, preferences, and values that are numerous, ambiguous, and often in conflict. Also, legal mandates are complex, unclear, and at times self-contradictory particularly on the issues concerning legal and illegal forest dwellers. The Mau forest rehabilitation debate has become competitive, conflict-laden social process that determines how power flows in resource management.

This study aims to develop a logical model for Eastern Mau forest rehabilitation using NetWeaver logic engine. Secondly the study will use the knowledge base and GIS to provide alternatives for forest rehabilitation using Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) framework. The scenarios will be based on the common forest rehabilitation approaches namely Sustainable livelihood, Sustainable conservation, Integrated natural resource management and Forest landscape restoration.