Forest conservation activities in Mount Brackett (Sacred Forest) in South West Mau forest, Kenya.

Abstract

The study investigated forest conservation activities in Mt. Bracket (sacred forest) in South West Mau Forest. South West Mau Forest if found within central coordinates of 35° 38. 88ˈE and 0° 33. 00ˈS and an altitude of 1800 – 3000 m above sea level. Mt. Brackett was purposively chosen for study due to its religious and cultural benefits. Three transects were laid at 0-2 Km, 2-5 Km and over 5 Km parallel to the edge of forest and one study site selected from each transect. 225 household questionnaires were administered during the data collection by randomly identifying the first household (HH) in each study site and there after systematically selecting a HH after every third HH at an approximate distance of 300 m. The data was analyzed using SPSS Version 12 package at significant test levels of P < 0.05. Sensitization on forest conservation (57.3%), research and policing (59.7%) and tree planting (64.0%) were the main forest conservation activities in the area. Chi-square test demonstrated that there was no significant association (P > 0.05) between forest conservation activities in Mt. Brackett forest and the study sites in all the transects. The paper recommends that households adjacent to forests need to be sensitized and educated on forest conservation especially through Community Forest Associations (CFAs).