No abstract

Commercial Forestry sector contributes more than $600 billion to the global economy each year. Farm forestry is expected to contribute immensely to meeting materials needs for this sector and also provide ecosystem services. To support the tree growing by farmers, it is essential to understand the factors that influence commercial tree growing. The findings of a study to assess the current state of on-farm tree planting and the key variables influencing adoption of commercial tree growing on farms are reported in this paper. Cross sectional data on commercial tree growing was collected from two hundred and eighteen (218) households. Using semi-structured questionnaires with closed and open-ended questions, these households were systematically and randomly sampled from a population of 3633 farming households practicing agroforestry. Descriptive statistics, logit and binary logistic regression models, and qualitative analysis were applied. The findings show that socioeconomic factors such as age, education level, and income have a strong influence on commercial tree planting among small holder farmers in Nandi County. Older farmers are more likely than younger farmers to participate in commercial forestry as farmers because their employment opportunities are limited. Farmers with a high level of education are also more likely to practice commercial forestry because they have access to information and training. Farmers with a high off-farm income are more likely to grow commercial trees as a long-term return investment than farmers who rely entirely on their farms. According to the study, the majority of farmers preferred commercially planting exotic tree species, with 70.2 % planting Cupressus lusitanica and 69.7 % planting Eucalyptus saligna. The study recommends that farmers should be educated on species site matching, according to the study, because they were found planting Eucalyptus species even in riparian areas. In conclusion, farmers of various ages can be encouraged to use commercial tree farming and good management practices to generate more income

There are many native species that are important to local communities globally. There have been studies on the importance of these plant species for many uses by local communities. Though, there is scanty information on these species' recognition by researchers. Despite the harsh climatic conditions in Turkana (semi-arid to arid), the community has over the years developed strategies for conservation of some sections of important woodland and riparian zones that provide multiple goods and services for the people and livestock. This study seeks to appraise the plant species preferred for construction and related cultural uses by pastoral communities in Northern Kenya where Turkana county in situated.The key results are list of plant species and their uses in regard to housing as well as the relative importance of the plant species to the Turkana pastoral community for housing. This will inform on priority species for conservation and also emphasize on key areas that this knowledge can be used.

Afforestation programs are challenged by competition for land uses. Land use conflicts arise whenever there is divergent use, access and management of the resource or due to incompatible use and inadequate policy. Agroforestry may reconcile competing interests. However, small landholdings remain a challenge due to the negative ecological and economic impacts of most economically preferred trees for agroforestry systems.  Such negative impacts lead to the emergence of conflict among different land users and in most instances, slows down afforestation efforts on the farm. This study intended to explore conflicts arising from on-farm tree-planting and other land use practices, to identify the conflict resolution mechanism adopted by land users and to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in conflict management. Mixed method approach of structured and semi-structured interviews was employed in Bobasi, Kisii County, Kenya. Content analysis, means, frequencies and cross-tabulations were done. Results indicated that small landholdings coupled with poor agroforestry practices were the main source of conflict driven by the ready market for trees of high economic values but with negative ecological impact. Conflict management mechanisms adopted were mainly cooperative methods such as voluntary negotiations between tree farmers and crop owners. These included adopting silvicultural control measures, benefit sharing of tree stems along the boundaries and compensation mechanisms for losses incurred by crop owners. Right based management mechanisms were also noted among other land users who believed that what they did with their land and compound was their business and so exhibited competitive approaches such as avoidance, coercion, and adjudication.

Forest ecosystems provide livelihood opportunities such as medicines, fuelwood, timber, cash income and a reliable supply of groundwater. However, encroachment of forests by human settlement adjacent to conservation areas is associated with overharvesting of forest resources and uncontrolled livestock grazing leading to the destruction and disappearance of useful plant species in forest ecosystems which can significantly affect both biodiversity integrity and ecological functioning. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the distribution, conservation status, and effects of threats on the relative abundance of Warburgia ugandensis in Katimok Forest Reserve, Baringo County in Kenya. Data collection was done using transect lines and quadrat methods. The data on the relative abundance of Warburgia ugandensis and indicators of threat were collected from quadrats and sub-quadrats located at 50 m, 350 m and 650 m from the forest edge. In addition, other measures of tree growth such as diameter at breast height (DBH) and heights of mature trees in the study blocks were made. One-way ANOVA was used to analyse the relative abundance of Warburgia ugandensis, indicators of threat and growth parameters. Pearson correlation results revealed a significant relationship between debarked and mature Warburgia ugandensis (r = 0.95; df=2, P=0.019), grazing intensities, and number of seedlings/saplings (r = 0.96; df=2, P=0.017) and other indicators of threats (stumps, defoliated leaves, broken twigs/branches) and the abundance of Warburgia ugandensis (r = 0.97; df=2, p=0.015). Therefore, there is an urgent need to map out the distribution of Warburgia ugandensis in the whole country to know where it is abundant in order to draw a national conservation and management plan for the tree species.