Kenya Forestry under British Colonial Administration, 1895–1963

P rograms for timber conservation have been on the agenda for many regions of Africa since the late nineteenth century. Nevertheless, in the closing decades of the twentieth century it has become painfully evident that many of the continent's forested areas are in danger of being seriously depleted by rapidly expanding human populations and accelerating industrial and agricultural growth. This crisis has been acute throughout eastern Africa and in Kenya in particular. Forestry programs in Kenya, as in most former colonial regions, date from the early days of European rule. As elsewhere, the history of Kenya's forestry programs is punctuated by setbacks; advances came only as the benefits of wise forest use were clearly recognized and the threats to continued forest productivity clearly assessed. Kenya's forest history is closely tied to the problems of colonial rule and the transition to nationhood. Protecting Kenya's forest environment from the impacts of rapid and widespread westernization posed a difficult problem for the colonial administration; officials needed a policy that would guarantee the conservation of large tracts of forested land without restricting the country's economic development.' Prospects for striking a balance between forest protection and industrial and agricultural expansion grew dim as larger amounts of territory came under cultivation and land and timber needs for schools, roads, hospitals, towns, and other social advancements grew. Indeed, by the post-World War II era it was evident to conservationists as well as to politicians that all attempts to achieve these contradictory goals had failed and that a revolutionary new approach was needed to assure the survival of the country's dwindling forests. Because these political and ecological developments parallel those in other parts of Africa, Kenya's troubled forest history is an important case study of the impact of man on forests in the developing nations.