Integrated Master Plan for Rehabilitation and Restoration of the Cherangany-Elgeyo Hills Ecosystem.

This Integrated Master Plan addresses environmental degradation, promotes sustainable land use, and fulfils national and global commitments to environmental restoration in the Cherangany-Elgeyo Hills ecosystem. The Plan focuses on the five conservation zones in this ecosystem: Gazetted Forests Zone, Uplands Zone excluding the gazetted forests, Escarpments Zone, Lowlands Zone and Riparian Areas, in order to ensure that targeted conservation efforts are undertaken in the water tower that is strategic for each zone. The Cherangany-Elgeyo Hills ecosystem is an important source of water for use in domestic, irrigation, industrial, and hydro-power generation purposes. This Master Plan also concerns: forest coverage increasing, combating illegal and over-abstraction of water, illegal logging and unsustainable harvesting of exotic trees. Concerning the five conservation zones, the Master Plan identifies the following threats and challenges: illegal logging, encroachment and overexploitation of resources; soil erosion and deforestation; landslide and unsustainable land use; overgrazing leading to land degradation; pollution from agricultural runoff and human settlements.
The Master Plan proposes the following interventions for successful restoration and rehabilitation of the ecosystem: establishment of a multi-agency team to develop an integrated conservation and management plan for the established five zones; development of a resource mobilisation framework to implement the proposed Plan as well as to carry out environmental and social safeguards; undertaking a detailed feasibility study for re-classification of plantation forests to indigenous and bamboo forests based on expert advice; strengthening protection measures through reforestation programmes, enforcement against illegal activities, and community forest associations; promoting soil conservation techniques, such as terracing and agroforestry; increasing rotational grazing systems to prevent overgrazing; establishing buffer zones along rivers to reduce pollution; encouraging alternative livelihoods like eco-tourism to reduce pressure on natural resources.