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The paper demonstrates that public open spaces in Nairobi City have been increasingly threatened by congestion and deterioration as result of the rapid rate of urbanisation (5-7.5%), poor planning, weak management and illegal alienation. According to the 1948 Master Plan for the city, city planning was premised on the neighbourhood concept with ample provision of public open spaces. However, after Kenya's independence in 1963, the implementation of the Master Plan was largely abandoned. Rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation meant that public open spaces that were intended to serve a population of 250,000 now serve over 3 million people. Public open spaces in the city suffer from degradation, overcrowding and insecurity, thus denying city residents access to the muchneeded recreation and leisure facilities.

This paper examines the environmental risks threatening sustainable urban agriculture in Kisumu municipality. The issues covered in the paper are: review of policy and institutional framework, infrastructure and service delivery, pollution analysis of irrigation water and crops and urban agriculture waste management. In addition, the paper proposes measures for sustainable urban agriculture. Household survey and pollution analysis of irrigation water and crops (kales and yams) were conducted in the study area. To capture spatial distribution of farmers in the municipality, the municipality was stratified into four strata and in each stratum a combination of stratified-systematic-simple random sampling was used to sample 194 households. Structured household questionnaire was administered to the sampled households. r

Background: Kenya's 2016 report card aimed to highlight the health and well-being of Kenyan children and youth using the best available evidence on the physical activity of Kenyan children and youth. The report pointed at areas where Kenya was succeeding and areas where more action is required. Methods: Inclusive analyses of available data sources on the core indicators related to physical activity and body weights of Kenyan children and youth (5 to 17 years) were conducted. These were assigned grades based on a set of specific criteria. Results: Results show that Active Play, Active Transportation, Overweight and Obesity, and Sedentary Behavior were favorable with a grade of B. Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport Participation, and School (infrastructure, policies, and programs) each received a grade of C, while Family and Peers, Government and Nongovernment organizations, as well as the Community and the Built Environment were assigned grade D. Conclusions: Over 72% of Kenyan children and youth use active transportation to and from school and in their daily lives. Although majority of the children and youth have normal body weight, there is need to ensure that they meet and maintain the physical activity levels recommended by the World Health Organization. More needs to be done especially in relation to the governmental and nongovernmental organizations, organized sports participation, as well as involvement of family and peers in promoting healthy active lifestyles among Kenyan children and youth. More representative data for all indicators are required in Kenya.

Bird communities composed of habitat specialists suffer considerable loss of species following disturbance (Ecol. Monogr. 41, 1971, 207-233). Participatory forest management (PFM) aims to ensure local ownership and support for forest conservation. This study determined if forest birds and forest quality in places under PFM is significantly higher than areas without PFM in Arabuko-Sokoke forest. Forest quality data were collected in the PFM and no PFM zones in the Mixed forest (MF) and Cynometra Woodland (CW). Plot-based approach was used to collect vegetation data along 1 km transects at intervals of 1 km sampling twenty transects and 200 plots in each of the study zones. Birds' data were collected using 10-min point-counts along 88, 1 km long transects placed 1-km apart sampling in 30 m radius-plots at intervals of 100 m. Data were collected in 2008 and 2009. The results showed higher measures of forest quality in PFM zones than no PFM zones which showed higher measures of forest disturbance. The results did not show statistical differences in birds' diversity indexes between PFM and no PFM zones indicating that the human-induced disturbance has not reached critical ecological thresholds to affect birds' species diversity. It can be deduced that PFM investment is leading to improved forest management. RésuméLes communautés aviaires composées d'espèces spécialistes d'habitats particuliers soufrent de pertes considérables d'espèces en raison de perturbations (Ecol. Monogr. 41, 1971, 207-233). La Gestion participative des forêts (GPF) vise à garantir l'appropriation et le soutien locaux de la conservation des forêts. Menée dans la forêt d'Arabuko-Sokoke, cette étude a voulu déterminer si les oiseaux forestiers et la qualité de la forêt dans des endroits concernés par une GPF étaient significativement mieux que dans des zones qui ne le sont pas. Les données sur la qualité de la forêt ont été collectées dans des zones avec et sans GPF de la forêt mixte (FM) et de la forêt à Cynometra (FC). On a utilisé une approche par parcelles pour récolter des données sur la végétation le long de transects d'un kilomètre espacés entre eux d'un kilomètre, ce qui représentait au total 20 transects et 200 parcelles dans chaque zone étudiée. Les données sur les oiseaux ont été collectées sur des points de comptage de 10 min situés le long de 88 transects d'un kilomètre de long espacés d'un kilomètre, en échantillonnant des parcelles de 30 m de rayon tous les 100 m. Les données furent collectées en 2008 et 2009. Les résultats montrent que les mesures de qualité forestière faites en zones GPF sont supérieures à celles de zones non GPF qui présentaient des chiffres supérieurs de perturbation forestière. Les résultats ne montrent pas de différences statistiques des indices de diversité des oiseaux entre zones GPF et non GPF, ce qui indique que la perturbation n'a pas atteint les seuils critiques qui pourraient affecter la diversité des espèces d'oiseaux. On peut en déduire que l'investissement dans une GPF conduit à une amélioration de la...