Enhancing the Legislative Process: Capacity Building for the Kenyan Parliament on Forest Conservation
- International Lawyers Project
- Jun 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 18
By Maria Cristina Mundin, Programme Manager, Environment and Sustainable Development
Kenya’s forestry sector contributes significantly to the country’s economy as well as providing many environmental benefits. Over the last few years, the Kenyan government has introduced a number of laws designed to protect and conserve Kenya’s forests. However, gaps between the law and its implementation have resulted in unsustainable forest management and increasing forest loss.
To address these challenges, in February 2025, International Lawyers Project (ILP), together with its partner, East African Wild Life Society (EAWLS), organised a three-day training workshop for members of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining and Senate Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources of the Kenyan Parliament. The training continues ILP's work supporting advocacy and policy reforms to better protect Kenya’s forests.
Led by experienced lawyers Rachael Bacha, German Guberman, Kevin Travaline, and Emily Fruchterman from Ropes & Gray LLP, and Advocate Getrude Kibare, Managing Partner of Johnsons & Partners Advocates LLP (Nairobi), the training aimed to strengthen participants’ expertise on policy making, legislative drafting, public participation and stakeholder engagement, forestry legislation and monitoring and implementation of laws, allowing them to improve the efficacy of the forestry legislative process in Kenya.
The Kenyan Context
Kenya has diverse forest ecosystems, including lowland forests, mountain forests, woodlands, plantation forests, bushlands and mangroves which are essential to carbon sequestration and harbour rich plant species and varied biodiversity. Kenya’s forests constitute about 7% of land cover, yet they sustain millions through ecosystem services, economic productivity, and cultural heritage. But this critical resource is being depleted at an alarming rate. The annual deforestation rate of 0.7 million hectares in the region exacerbates climate vulnerability and undermines community livelihoods. This amplifies the effects of climate change and reduces the resilience of communities that derive their livelihoods from these ecosystems. The decrease in forest cover in the region is attributed to population growth, agricultural expansion, infrastructural development, logging, unsustainable harvesting of firewood, wildfires, among other factors. To address these causes, Kenya introduced the Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016 to protect Kenya’s forests from deforestation and degradation. However, forest loss continues to persist because of gaps in the law and its inadequate implementation.
One important gap that is left unaddressed is the failure to recognise indigenous peoples’ rights and their vital role in forest stewardship and conservation. These communities have a long history of sustainably managing forests and have valuable knowledge and understanding routed in their cultural traditions and passed down through generations on how to preserve and protect biodiversity and ecosystems, and manage resources However, their inherent rights to their lands, territories and resources have often been overlooked. In particular, the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples should be sought, as this enables their participation in legislation and policy which affects their territories, livelihoods or way of life, in accordance with the right to self-determination. Laws should also provide for equitable benefits to be received by indigenous communities from forest conservation efforts, including access to resources, sustainable livelihoods, and opportunities for economic development. To ensure long-term sustainability of forest conservation and protection, laws and policies must recognise the rights and needs of various stakeholders, particularly indigenous peoples, and be implemented in accordance with the rule of law.
ILP’s Previous Work on Kenya Forest Bill
In November 2021, the Kenyan Parliament introduced a bill aiming to amend the Forest Conservation and Management Act of 2016. This proposed amendment sought to eliminate the requirement for petitions to alter public forest boundaries to be submitted through the KFS, thereby granting the National Assembly unilateral authority over such decisions. Critics argued that this change could undermine existing safeguards, potentially exposing protected forests to exploitation and degradation. In response, ILP collaborated with the Kenya Forest Working Group — a coalition of 35 conservation organisations led by the East African Wild Life Society — to mount a robust advocacy campaign against the amendment. ILP's legal team provided critical support by supporting the group’s representations to Parliament, proposing international best practices in forest protection policy, and preparing for potential legal challenges to the amendment's constitutionality. This concerted effort successfully persuaded Parliament to withdraw the proposed repeal during its final reading, thereby preserving the integrity of Kenya's forest conservation framework.
A key lesson from the advocacy campaign was the importance of equipping parliamentarians with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and approve robust legal and policy frameworks that effectively safeguard Kenya’s forest ecosystems. This training workshop was therefore designed as a direct response to that need, ensuring that legislators are better prepared to draft, analyse, and implement laws that support sustainable forest management.
Revitalising the Kenyan Parliament’s Legislative Drafting Process
The first training module aimed to enhance the skills of Kenya’s Parliament technical staff in legislative drafting, providing practical guidance on drafting clear, effective, and enforceable legislation, ensuring participants understand the principles of legislative drafting and can apply them in practice. The importance of public participation in the legislative process was also emphasised. Participants benefited from exchanging experiences from other jurisdictions and applying them to the local perspective.
The second module explained the process of translating forest policy into law, drawing on global examples of effective forest legislation, and looking also at Kenya’s National Forest Policy.
The final module aimed to ensure participants understand the importance and principles of stakeholder consultation and can apply the tools and techniques for tracking implementation and effective reporting of laws and policies.
The Road Ahead
Participants of the training reported improved understanding of legislative drafting, enhanced stakeholder engagement capabilities, increased confidence in policy analysis, and strengthened capacity in monitoring and evaluating policy implementation. Both Senate and National Assembly teams have committed to apply the lessons learned in their legislative and policy work, such as implementing structured public participation processes and developing tools for tracking policy implementation.
Overall, the training marked a critical step in fostering a more informed and skilled legislative body, poised to contribute meaningfully to the development of laws and policies that protect Kenya’s natural resources, with a clear call for continuous professional development in this area. ILP will continue to work with our partners and other relevant stakeholders towards strengthening policy reforms in Kenya’s forestry sector.
The training was made possible by funding provided by the Environmental Funders Network and Joanna Toole Foundation.
