Rich and Biodiverse Community Forests & Conservation via Sacredness Lessons from the Sacred Kaya Forests in Kwale County, Kenya

Interrogating the benefits that accrue among the communities living near sacred forests is key to the sustainable conservationofforests. The benefits become communities’ motivators of forest conservation. However, the sacred forests are threatenedbydeforestation and degradation due to the overemphasis on direct economic benefits at the expense of the socio-cultural ones. Acasestudy was carried out in Kwale County of Kenya; and was targeting the sacred Kaya Forests as samples of this study. Theaimwastoidentify the benefits, more so the intangible ones, that could be used to reverse the trend. Data was collected throughtheuseofquestionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and observations. Findings of this research study were that SacredForestsofferedmore benefits than the State Forests, and that the benefits were equally shared among community members. It is concludedthatboththe economic and social benefits are required to motivate conservation of forests by communities. Consequently, thestudyrecommended the need to identify and repackage the benefits and sensitize the community on the benefits as accruedinthelongrun.