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Forest Governance, Livelihoods and Resilience: The Case of Loita Forest (Entime e Naimina enkiyio), Narok County, Kenya

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Dryland Forests

Abstract

Loita forest (Entim e Naimina enkiyio) is an indigenous upland dry forest of approximately 330 km2 located in Narok County, southern Kenya. It is rich in biodiversity, is of religious and cultural significance to the Loita Maasai, is an important habitat for wildlife, and is a source of water, dry season grazing and timber and non-timber forest products. Before and since Kenya’s independence in 1963, this forest has been owned and managed by the Loita sub-tribe of the Maasai, with the adjoining lands in the division. However, in the early 1990s, it would have been converted into a nature reserve by Narok County Council had the Loita community not resisted through a court case. Over the last 25 years, the increased settlement and logging in the forest have become a threat to biodiversity conservation and may in future negatively affect the community’s livelihoods. The Loita Maasai are, however, careful to deter outsiders from invading their forest, while tolerating settlement in the forest by their own community members. Changing lifestyles, livelihoods and attitudes towards, and use of, this forest by community members undermine the roles of existing traditional institutions such as the council of elders and the Oloiboni who have traditionally managed this forest. The decline in the authority of traditional institutions and the lack of strong modern institutions to support them leaves gaps in the continued sustainable management of this important indigenous forest.

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Acknowledgements

I want to acknowledge partial support of a research for development grant received from the Centre for Sustainable Dryland Ecosystems and Societies (CSDES), University of Nairobi. I am grateful for the overwhelming support from Loita Community during field work and Loita Council of Elders for permitting me to undertake this study in Loita Division.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology (LARMAT), University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

    Peris M. Kariuki & J. T. Njoka

  2. National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya

    Peris M. Kariuki & H. S. Saitabau

  3. Loita Cultural and Educational Centre, Narok, Kenya

    C. L. Saitabau

Authors
  1. Peris M. Kariuki
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  2. J. T. Njoka
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  3. C. L. Saitabau
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  4. H. S. Saitabau
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Correspondence to Peris M. Kariuki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cali, Colombia

    Purabi Bose

  2. Leiden, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

    Han van Dijk

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Kariuki, P.M., Njoka, J.T., Saitabau, C.L., Saitabau, H.S. (2016). Forest Governance, Livelihoods and Resilience: The Case of Loita Forest (Entime e Naimina enkiyio), Narok County, Kenya. In: Bose, P., van Dijk, H. (eds) Dryland Forests. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19405-9_6

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