When the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry called for the review of eight Forest Regulations, LWF received emails and messages seeking our participation in this review. Being a key stakeholder in conservation of forests in the Northern Kenya landscape, we had already seen this announcement and were preparing to take action; hence, these calls only added to the zeal. As much as LWF is a membership organization, we are also a member of other associations, the National Environment Civil Society Alliance of Kenya (NECSA-K) being one of them. NECSA-K organized a three-day working session to review these regulations with the participation of thirty (30) of its members; LWF being one.
Keenness, passion, and commitment to peruse and synthesize the documents engulfed the meeting hall as we began the process. Despite some of the regulations being detailed and covered in many pages, participants did not tire. We maintained the same spirit and momentum from the first to the third day.
The eight regulations were: The Draft Forest Conservation and Management (Benefit Sharing) Regulations, 2025; Forest Conservation and Management (Participation in Sustainable Forest Management) Regulations, 2025; The Draft Forest Conservation and Management (Charcoal) Regulations, 2025; The Draft Forest Conservation and Management (Concessions on Public Forests) Regulations, 2025; The Draft Forest Conservation and Management (Gums and Resins) Regulations, 2025; The Draft Forest Conservation and Management (Private Forests Registration) Regulations, 2025; The Draft Forest Conservation and Management (Grading and Valuation of Timber and other Forest Products) Regulations, 2025; and The Draft Forest Products (Export and Import) Rules, 2025.
Reviewing eight Regulations at once was not easy. However, sharing the documents through many platforms, particularly via WhatsApp and email before the session and prior perusal by participants made the work easier. Besides, NECSA-K has expertise drawn from the member institutions hence those knowledgeable in various aspects of forestry and related areas were able to guide others through. This promoted cross-learning and an in-depth understanding.
Our takeaways from this engagement were, one, documents can be reviewed within a short time if stakeholders commit time, despite Ministries, more often than not, giving very short timelines for review of Laws, Regulations, Policies, Strategies and other important documents. Two, working as an Alliance and synergizing efforts can yield a bigger result than working as individual organizations/institutions. Three, a result can be achieved even with very minimal resources as long as there is commitment. This was manifested by the National Alliance of Community Forest Associations (NACOFA) committing the limited funds it had to convene a three-day working session. Finally, there is fulfilment and pride in having a stake when the suggestions given are taken up and the content of the documents implemented to the letter. We hope that the Ministry will incorporate our suggestions in the final Regulations.
