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Kakamega: A Forest for the People
Welcome to all scientists, travellers, students,
conservationists, and others interested in learning more about Kakamega
Forest.
Photo by Brent Smith
Kakamega Forest is world famous for its diversity of bird and insect
life, and its uniqueness makes its conservation a top priority. Kakamega
Forest is Kenya's only remaining patch of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest,
a rainforest that once spanned west and central Africa with its
easternmost edge in western Kenya. In Kenya, Uganda
and west Africa today, this rainforest exists as relatively small
islands of habitat surrounded by savannah and human settlement. Like
many of these forest islands, Kakamega has been shrinking rapidly
as human population growth and resource extraction have increased
tremendously in the last century. Although Kakamega Forest
is somewhat protected as a government reserve, the Luhya people
who live in areas surrounding the forest still rely heavily on the
forest for basic needs such as fuelwood, charcoal, timber, poles,
and other building materials. Currently, this region
is the most dense rural population in the world. The
pressures on the limited resources of Kakamega Forest will only
increase, and so efforts to manage the forest's resources sustainably
will be crucial to the survival of this vulnerable ecosystem.
Student creators of this site: Kevin Cox, Damon Hearne,
Christopher Kauffman, and Eden Robertson, with assistance from Julie
Helsel. Faculty participant: Brent Smith |
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