Browsing by Author "Rotich, Brian"

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Communities’ attitudes and perceptions towards the status, use and management of Kapolet Forest Reserve in Kenya
(International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 2020-11-11) Rotich, Brian; Makindi, Stanley; Esilaba, Moses
Forest communities play a vital role in the conservation of forest resources. Understanding communities’ use, attitudes and perceptions of forests and management measures is significant in attaining conservation goals and reducing forest resource use conflicts. This study sought to assess local community’ forest resources use and their perception towards forest status, use and management. Data was collected through household surveys using semi-structured questionnaires, participant observation, Key Informant Interviews (KII), and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). A total of 112 respondents from three adjacent villages within 5 km from the forest boundary were randomly sampled for the household survey while descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Most (94.6%) of the households reported using products from forests. These products formed an integral part of the households’ energy needs, construction materials, medicine, income generation and daily dietary needs. Firewood was the most collected product from the forest (76.4%) whereas bush meat was the least (4.7%). There were mixed views on the forest management with more than half (54.5%) expressing dissatisfaction with the current management regime citing insecure land tenure system, inadequate integration of the community in forest management and corruption. There was perceived forest degradation due to illegal logging, illegal grazing, forest fires, climate change and encroachment for farming. For sustainable forest management practice therefore, there is a need for incorporating Indigenous knowledge (IK) in forest management plans and putting in place grievance address mechanisms to cater for the needs of local communities when designing forest policies and implementing forest restoration programs.
Impact of land use/land cover changes on ecosystem service values in the cherangany hills water tower, Kenya
(Elsevier, 2022) Rotich, Brian; Kindu, Mengistie; Kipkulei, Harison; Kibet, Stephen; Ojwang, Dennis; ; ;
Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes alter the ecosystem structure and function, resulting in variations of the Ecosystem Service Values (ESVs). This study investigated the impacts of LULC changes on ESVs over 37 years in the Cherangany Hills Water Tower (CHWT) of Kenya. Landsat images from 1985 and 2022 were used to examine historical LULC changes in the CHWT. Supervised classification was carried out using the Random Forest (RF) classifier in R-Studio while ArcGIS desktop software was used for mapping to evaluate the LULC changes. Accuracy assessments were also conducted for each reference year. The estimation of ESVs was done using the Benefit Transfer Approach (BTA), employing modified local value coefficients. Six LULC types (Forest, Cropland, Grassland, Water bodies, Bareland, and Built-up area) were successfully classified, with overall accuracies of more than 92.5% and Kappa coefficients greater than 0.91. Our study findings showed an expansion in built-up areas (201.63%), cropland (36.78%), and water bodies (40.05%) whereas grassland, forest, and bareland experienced a reduction in their land areas by 28.26%, 13.38%, and 24.15% respectively between 1985 and 2022 in the CHWT. Consequently, there was an increase in the ESV of cropland while forest and grassland registered a decrease in their ESVs. Overall, the total ESV of the CHWT declined by 7.16% from 121.22 million United States Dollars (USD) in the year 1985 to 112.54 million USD in 2022. As for the individual ESVs, 15 out of the 17 individual Ecosystem Services (ES) registered negative changes in their ESVs. Food production and biological control were the two individual ES with positive ESV changes over the study period. There is a need to curb the current drivers of LULC changes within the water tower, especially the expansion of croplands, to stop further ecosystem degradation for optimum delivery of ES.
Trends and drivers of forest cover change in the Cherangany hills forest ecosystem, western Kenya
(Elsevier, 2021-08) Rotich, Brian; Ojwang, Dennis; ; ;
Detecting and monitoring forest cover change and its drivers has become a vital component of forest management globally as it helps in decision-making and policy development. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatio-temporal trends of forest cover change and its drivers from 1985 to 2020 in the Cherangany hills forest ecosystem, Kenya. Landsat satellite data and Google Earth Engine (GEE) algorithms were used for land cover mapping and change detection. In addition, a literature review was undertaken to establish the drivers of forest cover change over time in the study area. The results show an overall decline in the forest, water features, and built-up areas land cover categories in the study area while croplands, grasslands, and bareland registered gains. The percentage area under forests declined by about 14.1% (13,782 ha) during the 35 years. This loss translates to an annual average forest loss of 0.40% or 394 ha. Conversely, cropland and grassland registered an increase of about 8.1% (7944 ha) and 5.8% (5616 ha) respectively over the 35-year study period. The drivers of forest cover change in the ecosystem comprised the conversion of forests to croplands and grasslands, grazing, encroachment, illegal logging, firewood harvesting, charcoal production, forest fires, excisions, climate change, population growth, policy, and institutional failures. The findings of this study will help the relevant forest managers re-evaluate the past conservation and management strategies and focus the rehabilitation efforts on the forest ecosystem’s degradation hotspots for sustainable forest management
Trends and drivers of forest cover change in the Cherangany hills forest ecosystem, western Kenya
(Chuka University, 2021) Rotich, Brian; Ojwang, Dennis; ; ;
Detecting and monitoring forest cover change and its drivers has become a vital component of forest management globally as it helps in decision-making and policy development. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatio-temporal trends of forest cover change and its drivers from 1985 to 2020 in the Cherangany hills forest ecosystem, Kenya. Landsat satellite data and Google Earth Engine (GEE) algorithms were used for land cover mapping and change detection. In addition, a literature review was undertaken to establish the drivers of forest cover change over time in the study area. The results show an overall decline in the forest, water features, and built-up areas land cover categories in the study area while croplands, grasslands, and bareland registered gains. The percentage area under forests declined by about 14.1% (13,782 ha) during the 35 years. This loss translates to an annual average forest loss of 0.40% or 394 ha. Conversely, cropland and grassland registered an increase of about 8.1% (7944 ha) and 5.8% (5616 ha) respectively over the 35-year study period. The drivers of forest cover change in the ecosystem comprised the conversion of forests to croplands and grasslands, grazing, encroachment, illegal logging, firewood harvesting, charcoal production, forest fires, excisions, climate change, population growth, policy, and institutional failures. The findings of this study will help the relevant forest managers re-evaluate the past conservation and management strategies and focus the rehabilitation efforts on the forest ecosystem’s degradation hotspots for sustainable forest management.