Forest Conservation and Management Act

The Act may be cited as the Forest Conservation and Management Act.

Section 2 provides definitions and interpretations of terms used in the Act.

The Act applies to all forests on public, community and private lands.

Requires good governance in accordance with Article 10 of the Constitution.

The Cabinet Secretary must develop a national forest policy in consultation with county government and relevant stakeholders, and must cause the policy to be reviewed at least once every five years in consultation with the county government.

The Cabinet Secretary must formulate a public forest strategy within one year of commencement and thereafter every five years, following public participation; and must review the strategy every three years.

The Board has the power to invest any moneys of the Service not immediately required for the purposes of this Act.

The Board may establish committees, may co-opt external persons into those committees with the Cabinet Secretary's approval, and may delegate the Board's powers or duties to committees or to Board members/officers by resolution.

The business and affairs of the Board must be conducted in accordance with the First Schedule to this Act.

A member of the Board is entitled to be paid such remuneration or allowances as the Salaries and Remuneration Commission may recommend.

Section 14 establishes the office of Chief Conservator of Forests, requires the Board to publicly and competitively recruit and appoint the Chief Conservator with the approval of the Cabinet Secretary, sets qualifications for the officeholder, provides a four-year term (renewable once), and assigns the Chief Conservator responsibility for day-to-day management and direction of the Service subject to the Board's direction.

The Board may appoint officers and other staff of the Service.

The Board may designate a specific cadre of Service staff as a uniformed and disciplined force, may prescribe a disciplinary code for that cadre, and the rights of that cadre may be limited under Article 24(5) of the Constitution.

Kenya Forestry College must provide forestry education and various training courses, develop certificate-to-diploma programmes and design apprenticeship and community short courses in consultation with stakeholders; the Board must formulate administration and management policies for the College.

The Cabinet Secretary may appoint volunteers as honorary foresters on the Board's recommendation.

Members of the Board, officers, employees and agents of the Service are protected from personal liability for acts done in good faith in executing the Service's functions, powers or duties.

The Board must establish forest conservation areas; the Board may divide them into ecosystems; committees are to be established for each area; committee members hold three-year terms and may serve one further three-year term; non-members may attend but cannot vote; members are entitled to allowances; the Board may set aside funds; the Cabinet Secretary may make regulations in consultation with the Board.

Section 21 assigns forestry functions to County Governments, including implementing national forest policies, managing public-land forests, preparing an annual report (with County Assembly approval) for the Service, promoting afforestation, advising and assisting communities and individuals, and may entering joint management agreements; county assemblies may enact legislation to implement this section; the Service may assist if requested.

The Kenya Forestry Research Institute is the national agency for forestry research and development and must develop R&D programmes, prepare strategies and training, disseminate findings, participate in standards development and regularly compile and submit reports to the Cabinet Secretary.

Creates the Kenya Forest Service and lists corporate capacities including suing, property dealings, contracting, and other activities necessary to perform its functions.

The Service must conserve, protect and manage all public forests in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Section establishes the Board membership, qualifications, terms, disqualifications, and specifies that the chairperson is appointed by the President and certain appointments must be by name and Gazette notice and in accordance with the Constitution.

Parliament may appropriate moneys for the purposes of the Service.

The financial year of the Service is the period of twelve months ending on the thirtieth June in each year.

The Board must prepare estimates of the Service's revenue and expenditure at least two months before the end of each financial year; the Board may create reserve funds "as the Board may deem fit" for contingent liabilities.

The Board must keep proper accounting records for the Service; the Auditor-General must examine, audit and report on the Service's accounts annually in accordance with public audit law.

Establishes the Forest Conservation and Management Trust Fund and requires the Cabinet Secretary to make rules for its management.

The Fund may receive monies appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the Fund.

The Trust Fund is to be managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Cabinet Secretary; the Board must set disbursement amounts and conditions, may invest in National Treasury‑approved securities, must keep audited accounts and publish them; the Cabinet Secretary appoints members and shall make management regulations.

Forests may be classified as public, community or private forests.

Public forests are vested in the Service; the Cabinet Secretary may declare eligible land to be public forest after Board recommendation and consultation with the National Land Commission via Gazette notice.

Community forests are vested in the community; the Service must register each community forest and must notify the relevant county government of registrations; communities may apply to authorities for exemptions from land rates and other charges.

Owners of private forests may apply to the Service to register their forest; the Service must register forests that meet prescribed criteria; owners may apply to authorities for exemption from land rates and other charges.

Any person may petition the National Assembly to vary public-forest boundaries or revoke registration of a public forest or part of it; petitions considered subject to EIA and public consultation; National Assembly votes on recommendations and, if approved by majority present and voting, the Cabinet Secretary publishes a Gazette notice.

The Cabinet Secretary may declare mismanaged or neglected community or private forests to be provisional forests; the Service must manage provisional forests with owners for three years and pay owners profits less management expenses; the Board may prescribe conditions when a provisional forest reverts to its owner.

Allows the Service to acquire land suitable to be declared a public forest by purchase with Cabinet Secretary approval, and allows the Service to enter into arrangements with owners of public forest for management; sets conditions for exchanges of forest area with private land and requires prior public consultation before purchases or exchanges.

County Governments must establish and maintain arboreta, green zones and recreational parks; ensure housing estate developers provide green zones equal to at least 5% of housing estate land; establish recreational parks in every market centre; the Service must provide technical assistance; conversion of such sites is prohibited unless the County forestry department consults local residents; the County forestry department may, with the Service, prescribe tree species.

A person registered as proprietor of land may donate or bequeath all or part of that land to specified public bodies or organisations for forestry development and biodiversity conservation.

The Cabinet Secretary may declare forests as nature reserves (with Board recommendation and consultations) and must arrange compensation for private/community landowners; the Cabinet Secretary must consider public comments before ordering; the Chief Conservator must prepare a management plan.

The Cabinet Secretary, on the advice of the Kenya Forestry Research Institute and by order published in the Gazette, may declare tree species or families protected (countrywide or in specific areas) and must disseminate that information; no person shall fell, cut, damage, remove, trade in or export protected trees or their regeneration or abet such acts; the Cabinet Secretary may reverse protection when satisfied it is no longer necessary and may prescribe regulations or guidelines for protection and regeneration.

Forest owners may enter agreements with persons for joint management of forests; such agreements can require use or non-use for biodiversity conservation, must include compensation modalities if they restrict use, bind successors and assignees, and cannot enforce terms that contravene other law or prior binding agreements.

The Service must prepare forest management plans in pursuance of subsection (1) and in consultation with the local forest conservation committee; the Service may enter into joint management agreements with persons, institutions, government agencies or forest associations.

Section 43 governs management of plantation forests: the Service may advertise for management arrangements; applicants must submit applications with a management plan; aggrieved persons may appeal to the Environment and Land Court within sixty days; the Service must consider local community interests.

Section 44 requires the Service to grant concessions for public forest utilisation when satisfied it is appropriate; it empowers the Service to withdraw concessions, makes grantees personally responsible for loss or damage from their operations, and requires grantees to provide an Environmental Protection Bond whose form and amount the Cabinet Secretary may determine.

The Service may advertise, accept applications and, via competitive process, approve and enter into management agreements for public forests; the Cabinet Secretary may prescribe regulations to implement the section.

The Cabinet Secretary must, on the recommendation of the Service and in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary responsible for environment and relevant government agencies, publish rules to regulate and govern quarrying operations in forest areas.

Public, provisional and community forests and nature reserves must have management plans prepared or requested, with specified responsible bodies and consultation requirements; implementation supervised by the Chief Conservator of Forests and county governments.

Section 64 lists activities that are prohibited in forests and prescribes fines and imprisonment for persons who contravene those provisions or specified other sections.

It is an offence to counterfeit or unlawfully affix marks on any forest produce that are ordinarily used by a forest officer to denote property or lawful cutting/removal.

Any person who contravenes provisions relating to quarrying or re-vegetation in forest areas commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

Section 67 lists offences related to forests, including wilful burning, possession of charcoal without a licence, operating sawmills contrary to rules, unlawful capture or killing of animals in forests, and various prohibitions on introducing exotic materials, dumping waste, growing narcotic plants, and removing trees for export; some offences carry fines or imprisonment.

Section 68 requires a convicted person to pay compensation to the forest owner equal to the value of damaged, injured or removed forest produce (or ten thousand shillings per offence if value cannot be estimated); makes an agent's principal liable in certain circumstances; provides for forfeiture of instruments used; allows the court to order removal of buildings etc. and makes the owner of seized property bear custody expenses.

If a person is convicted of an offence under this Act for which no specific penalty is provided, they may be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand shillings, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or by both.

Disputes about forest conservation, management or utilization must first be referred to the lowest devolved government structure; matters not resolved there must be referred to the National Environment Tribunal, with possible appeal to the Environment and Land Court.

Allows forest community members to register associations and allows registered community forest associations to apply to the Service for permission to participate in conservation and management; the Service may impose conditions and must keep an up-to-date record of associations granted permission.

A forest association must protect, conserve and manage the forest, implement sustainable programmes consistent with traditional user rights, protect sacred groves and protected trees, assist authorities in enforcement (including against illegal harvesting), with Service approval enter partnerships, inform the Service of biodiversity-critical developments, help in firefighting, and perform other acts necessary for conservation and management; the Chief Conservator of Forests may, in consultation with the association, prescribe rules for activities specified in this section.

Community forest associations may assign their management-agreement rights to a qualified agent with the Chief Conservator of Forests' approval; the Chief Conservator must not approve assignments inconsistent with the agreement; the association is responsible for agent acts that breach the Act or agreement.

The Chief Conservator of Forests may terminate or vary a management agreement or withdraw user rights on specified grounds; the Chief Conservator must notify the association at least thirty days beforehand and must give the association an opportunity to challenge; an aggrieved association may appeal to the Board within thirty days.

Members of a forest community are entitled to use forest produce that their community has customarily taken from the forest, not for sale, subject to conditions prescribed by this Act or other written law.

Investors in forests must share the benefits of their investment with local communities, using options such as infrastructure, education, employment and social amenities, and must do so subject to Article 66 of the Constitution and in accordance with rules made under this Act or other relevant laws.

The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury may, on recommendation, propose tax and fiscal incentives to boost investment in forest land use and resource utilization to promote conservation and prevent degradation.

The Cabinet Secretary must plan and execute programmes to observe the national tree-planting week and the International Day of Forests.

The Service may invite the private sector to participate in sustainable forest management when appropriate; specified authorizations include permit, timber licence, special use licence, contract, joint management agreement, or concession agreement; and no new authorization is allowed where a pre-existing one exists except by mutual terms.

Section 57 sets eligibility criteria for authorization (capacity to enter binding agreements; technical and financial capacity; foreign investors must comply with investment laws) and defines what competence, technical and financial capacity include; it also requires the Service to comply with procurement, asset disposal and other relevant laws when issuing authorizations.

The Service must publish a chain-of-custody system; the Service must support counties upon request; persons possessing or trading forest products must comply with the system.

The Cabinet Secretary must make regulations for grading and valuing timber and other forest products, and may authorize individuals as timber graders or valuers on advice and by Gazette notice.

No person may import, export, re-export or introduce forest products into or from Kenya without a permit issued by the Service; the Cabinet Secretary must publish rules by notice in the Gazette to regulate such export and import.

The Cabinet Secretary may, by Notice in the Gazette, declare any forest produce that may not be exported or imported.

Grants officers a range of powers (demand documents, require account, search, arrest, seize property, enter and inspect forests and premises, seize livestock, confiscate equipment, prevent offences, administer oaths) and gives senior officers police powers under the Criminal Procedure Code and National Police Service Act.

The Cabinet Secretary responsible for firearms may, through the Inspector-General of Police, make firearms available to the Service as necessary for the Service to carry out its functions; officers may use firearms in specified circumstances subject to conditions such as reasonable grounds and prior warning.

The Director of Public Prosecutions may appoint a forest officer to be a public prosecutor by notice in the Gazette, pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 75).

The Cabinet Secretary may make regulations, on the recommendation of the Board, to carry out or give effect to this Act.

Registers maintained under this section (including licences, public, community and private forests, management agreements and plans) shall be open for public inspection at the office of the Chief Conservator of Forests.

The Cabinet Secretary may make regulations and give directions to ensure compliance with international instruments, conventions and agreements ratified by Kenya.

The Chief Conservator of Forests may develop management plans for sustainable management of cross-border forest resources, subject to the approval of the Board.

Section 75 makes the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (Cap. 387) apply to how conservation or protection required by this Act is carried out, states that licences or permits under this Act do not exempt compliance with EMCA or other written law on conservation and protection, and bars granting user rights where specified EMCA assessment requirements have not been complied with.