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The Upper Athi River Catchment is one of the major catchment areas in Kenya which have experienced land cover changes due to changes in land uses and population pressure. The main objective of the study was to determine past spatial and temporal land cover changes and predict future land cover changes in Upper Athi River Catchment as a means of monitoring environmental changes. Landsat TM images of the years 1984, 2000 and 2010 were used to determine spatial and temporal land cover changes in the period 1984-2010 while the Cellular Automat-Markov (CA-Markov) model was used to predict land cover changes between 2010 and 2030 based on 1984-2010 trends. Change detection between 1984 and 2010 revealed that agricultural and built-up lands increased by 8.67% and 23.70%, while closed/open woody vegetation, broadleaved evergreen forest and rangeland decreased by 9.98%, 2.52% and 19.88%, respectively. Between 2010 and 2030, it was predicted that built-up and agricultural lands would increase by 7.66% and 5.61%, while rangeland; closed/open woody vegetation and broadleaved evergreen forest would decrease by 6.42%, 6.62 % and 0.22 %, respectively. The results showed that agricultural expansion and urbanization will be the main causes of land cover and environmental changes within the catchment.

Certain rocks, rock minerals and rock formations have come to be associated with ETICs (Extra-terrestrial Impact Craters). An extra-terrestrial impact crater is a crater that is formed by an extra-terrestrial impact event whereby a heavenly body (a meteor, comet, or asteroid) hits the earth’s surface and creates a crater; before it cools on the earth’s surface as a meteorite or completely gets squashed by the thermodynamics of space transit. The crater created can be dry or filled with water and may be a simple crater or a complex one, also denoted as a basin. The objective of this paper is to describe the geology of the Silali basin as an Extra-Terrestrial Impact Crater (ETIC), highlight the importance of some of its ETIC rocks and explain the formation of the Silali basin resulting from extra-terrestrial impact. Data was collected through field observation, remote sensing, analysis of past geographical and geological studies, interviewing and laboratory analysis. Information has been presented in the form of analyzed satellite images, pictures, tables, and maps. Notably, this is the first study on extra-terrestrial impact cratering (ETIC) in Kenya. Consequently, the Silali basin, as an ETIC, and its environs, is a virgin field for further scientific research.

This paper investigates modalities required to design and implement community monitoring of forest carbon stock changes and safeguards implementation in Kenya. General principles and elements were drawn from the UNFCCC REDD+ policy frameworks for developing modalities and procedures for designing community forest monitoring system. The paper utilised policy analysis approach used to derive monitoring goals and objectives by assessing the compatibility of Kenya's policy and legislative framework with monitoring elements provided in the UNFCCC REDD+ policy mechanism. The elements included monitoring goals, objectives, questions, indicators, and methods and tools. Two goals were identified which included, reduction of forest carbon emissions (ER) and monitoring of multiple social and environmental safeguards (SG). Five ER related objectives were identified to include: forest reference emission levels or forest reference levels, drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, Land use activities, eligible ER actions and estimation of forest emissions. Six objectives guiding SG were identified to include: policy, governance, human rights, socio-economic, biodiversity and environmental concerns. Corresponding questions to the goals and objectives were systematically designed. In turns, indicators, depicting quantitative and J. G. Muchemi et al. 458qualitative measurements, which best provided answers to questions were identified. The various methods and tools used by communities around the world in providing data and information required to satisfy the indictors were identified through literature review. The review identified four methods and tools that included: Remote Sensing and GIS, GPS survey, smartphone survey and Ground trothing. Smartphone and cloud-based server technology were found to be the recent emergent tools in aiding community monitoring of REDD+ projects. The paper argues that local communities and indigenous peoples have the capability and capacity to monitor and undertake forest carbon monitoring and tracking of implementation of safeguards if supported with relevant training; compensated for the time, labour and knowledge they contribute to the process; provided with feedback and involved decision making process.