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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Tree planting · Kenya · 2001–2026

Kenya's two official figures: 8.83% forest cover and 12.13% tree cover

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

Kenya's Forest Service reports 8.83% forest cover and 12.13% tree cover for 2021, and the constitution's 10% target is tied to tree cover. Satellite data shows more than 19% tree cover loss in the Mau Forest from 2001 to 2022, which the Forest Service disputes.

What?
Kenya officially reports two national figures for 2021, forest cover of 8.83% and tree cover of 12.13%, which use different definitions.
Where?
Kenya, with the Mau Forest as the main site of reported tree cover loss. Mongabay
When?
Official figures for 2021; Mau loss covers 2001 to 2022; the 2032 target was reported in February 2026. Mongabay
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The two figures use different measures: the tree cover figure counts trees outside official forest, and the forest definition requires at least 15% canopy and 2 m height.
How?
Global Forest Watch tracks tree cover loss with satellite data; the Forest Service relies on its own assessment and defended it against the satellite data. Kenyans.co.ke
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

Kenya Forest Service's 2021 assessment reports 8.83% forest cover and 12.13% tree cover; its forest definition requires at least 15% canopy and 2 m tree height.

Global Forest Watch data reported by Mongabay in November 2023 show more than 19% tree cover loss in the Mau Forest between 2001 and 2022.

The Forest Service responded that the satellite images do not reflect conditions on the ground, according to Kenyans.co.ke in November 2024.

Kenya set a target of 30% tree cover and 15 billion trees by 2032, reported by Capital FM in February 2026.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Disputed Reported but not verified: a president's June 2022 claim that forest cover rose from 6.99% in 2013 to 8.83% in 2022 has been disputed; the disputing figures are not verified.
    • Insufficient Reported in an opinion column, not verified: a former head of Kenya's water towers agency wrote that a 7.1% figure was changed to 7.2% without explanation, and that agencies were under pressure to meet the 10% target.
    • Insufficient Not verified: the final decision on removing the 'temporarily unstocked' category from the FAO 2025 assessment.
    • None on record Not stated: any survival count for the more than 900 million planting reports.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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