13. Forest Conservation and Management Act, No. 34 of 2016

The Act provides for the development and sustainable management, including conservation and rational utilization of all forest resources for the socio-economic development of the country.

Quick Link: http://www.kenyalaw.org/lex//actview.xql?actid=CAP.%20385

This statute was passed in 2016 to repeal and replace the Forests Act No. 3 of 2005 and the Timber Act (Cap 386). It seeks to give effect to Article 69 of the Constitution regarding forest resources.

· The Act applies to all forests whether located on public, community or private lands as per section 3 of the Act.

· The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) established under section 7 is empowered with among others, receiving applications for licences and permits in relation to forest resources including wood and timber that is a key construction material.

· Section 37(2) of the Act provides that every county government shall cause housing estate developers within its jurisdiction to make provision for the establishment of green zones at the rate of at least five percent of the total land area of any housing estate intended to be developed. This provision means that developers may have to set aside land and incur more costs in creating such green zones equivalent to at least 5 percent of total area under housing development. It is not however apparent that county governments have been demanding this of developers yet as only a few of them have been providing for green zones.

· Under section 46, the Kenya Forest Service must grant consent for quarrying activities or operations including construction material within a forest area and only in areas where there are no rare or endangered species, forest areas that do not have any cultural importance or contain sacred trees, where an independent Environmental Impact Assessment or audit has been done, and the forest is not an important water catchment area.

· Section 56(2) provides that the Kenya Forest Service may issue authorisations for forestry activities in form of a permit or even a timber licence. Under section 60, no importation or exportation of forest products may be done except with a permit from the Service.

· Section 64 provides for a list of prohibited activities within a public forest that may not be done without a licence which include felling, cutting, taking, burning, injuring or removing any forest produce.

· Section 71 empowers the Cabinet Secretary to formulate Regulations to give effect to the Act including those for: controlling the harvesting, collection, sale of and disposal of forest produce including timber grading and marking; regulating the felling, working and removal of forest produce in areas where trees may be felled or removed; and prescribing the amount of royalties or fees payable under the Act generally or specific cases. In this regard, there have been published the Forests (Fees and Charges) Rules, 2012 which detail the fees payable for dealing in different kinds of forest produce including different varieties of trees.