Cases / Protected area / relocation · Kenya · 2016–2024
Kenyan water-tower forest evictions followed a 2018 killing by forest guards
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.
A Kenyan water fund is reported to overlap Sengwer land in Embobut forest, where forest guards shot a herder in 2018 and evictions continued into 2024. Water-tower forests feed rivers, so evictions and conservation funding affect both communities and catchments.
What?
Sengwer herders were evicted from Embobut forest, a water-tower forest, and the government defends the evictions as protecting water supplies. Nation (Mwananchi)
Where?
Embobut forest, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya Forest Peoples Programme
When?
Shooting January 2018; EU suspension 17 January 2018; programme closed 2020; operation April and May 2024 REDD-Monitor
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
- Sengwer community — Evicted from Embobut forest; the ministry said more than 600 families were removed in 2024 Nation (Mwananchi)
Harmed
- Sengwer herders — A 41-year-old herder was shot dead by forest guards in January 2018 Forest Peoples Programme
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Forest guards carried out the evictions. The EU had funded forest conservation through a programme that it suspended after the shooting. Forest Peoples Programme
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In January 2018 Kenya Forest Service guards shot and killed a 41-year-old Sengwer herder in Embobut forest, according to the Forest Peoples Programme.
The EU suspended its 31 million euro WaTER programme in January 2018 and closed it in 2020, citing a lapsed contract deadline, according to REDD-Monitor.
In April and May 2024 the Kenya Forest Service deployed 170 officers in the Imarisha Msitu operation; the ministry said more than 600 families were removed, and the figures are contested.
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
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: The Nature Conservancy's water fund in Embobut overlaps Sengwer territory, with 5 million shillings reserved for the Sengwer.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a 2021 appeal court ruling ordered that residents in the forest that year not be evicted.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: 28 Sengwer homes were burned in July 2020.
- None on record The sources reviewed record no prosecution of a guard for the 2018 killing.
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
- Government defends decision to evict Sengwer communityNation (Mwananchi) · 2024-05-09
Communities and civil society
- Indigenous Sengwer man shot and killed, EU-fundedForest Peoples Programme · 2018-01-16
- EU scraps US$35 million conservation and climate change programme in Kenya over forced evictionsREDD-Monitor · 2020-10-01
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Sengwer evictions from Embobut forest and the EU Water Towers programme (Kenya) Kenya · 2014–2024 Related matter
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: Forest authority whose guards carried out the evictions
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Funder of the WaTER programme
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Water fund overlapping Embobut
- Kenyan forest guards shoot dead Sengwer herder Robert Kirotich during evictions Kenya · 2018–2024
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: forest guards; operator of the evictions
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: donor; suspended support for the WaTER programme
- World Bank and development bank accountability mechanisms: Embobut (Sengwer), Tata Mundra, Arun III, Jale, Cambodia Kenya · 2007–2024
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: Agency whose guards carried out the raid
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Funder of the WaTER programme
- African Parks Odzala-Kokoua abuses (Republic of Congo) Republic of Congo · 2010–2025
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Funder (€6m for 2018–2023; 46% of the park budget in 2020)
- Bahamas debt-for-nature swap Bahamas · 2024
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Conservation organisation involved in the transaction
- Barbados debt-for-nature swap Barbados · 2022
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Guarantor (US$50m)
- Belize blue bond Belize · 2021–2041
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Lender (via subsidiary)
- Bezos Earth Fund: first grants and SBTi funding United States · 2020–2026
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Recipient of $100m (first round)
- Biomas restoration initiative Brazil · 2022
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Nature NGO; director Sérgio Rial was chairman of Santander Brasil when it co-founded Biomas
- Bloomberg, Steyer and Bezos money shapes coal and nature campaigns United States · 2008–2026
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Environmental group that received Bezos Earth Fund money
- Bolivian carbon scheme claimed 55 million tonnes; review found at most 5.8 million Bolivia · 1997–2010
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: conservation group; set up the scheme with BP
- BP Deepwater Horizon: the spill, the court cases and the recovery claims United States · 2010–2031
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Recipient of BP funding
- Coral reef parametric insurance, Quintana Roo Mexico · 2018–2026
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Co-designer of the cover; author of the July 2026 case study
- El Salvador debt-for-nature swap El Salvador · 2024–2025
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Not named for this transaction; a JPMorgan executive sits on its board
- EU bans offset-based neutrality claims from 27 September 2026 European Union · 2024–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: adopted the directive
- EU court rejects Austria's challenge to green label for gas and nuclear European Union · 2022–2025
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: set the taxonomy rules
- EU Deforestation Regulation delays and trade pressure European Union · 2022
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Regulator
- EU mirror measure on antimicrobials and Brazil beef exclusion Brazil · 2019–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Regulator that adopted the measure and decided the list
- EU narrows supply-chain law and delays deforestation rule twice European Union · 2024–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Adopted the narrowed directive and postponed the EUDR
- EU seal-product ban's Inuit exemption found ineffective Canada · 2014
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Seal-product ban with an Inuit exemption
- Gabon debt-for-nature swap Gabon · 2023
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Sponsor of the project
- Green Belt Movement and Karura Forest, Kenya Kenya · 1977–2023
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: Forest authority; disputed satellite figures for the Mau Forest
- Jadar lithium project Serbia · 2022–2025
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Defendant in the strategic-status case (European Commission)
- Kenya evicts more than 700 people from Mau Forest where Ogiek won at court Kenya · 2023
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: Agency that carried out the 2023 evictions
- Kenya's 15 billion trees target Kenya · 2018–2026
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: Official forest-cover measurement; disputed satellite data on the Mau
- Kenya's two official figures: 8.83% forest cover and 12.13% tree cover Kenya · 2001–2026
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: national forest assessment; disputed satellite-based loss figures
- Mau Forest loss and forest excisions (Kenya) Kenya · 2001–2024
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: forest guards and eviction operations; there: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service
- Messok Dja ecoguard abuses (Republic of Congo) Republic of Congo · 2008–2020
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Funder; suspended about €1 million in 2020
- Morocco says it cut cadmium in phosphate fertilisers; EU cannot verify the claim Morocco · 2025
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: acknowledges it cannot verify Morocco's claim
- Mosaic settles US hazardous-waste case over phosphogypsum handling United States · 2015
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Conservation organisation listing Mosaic as a corporate partner
- Nature Conservancy began $10 million partnership with Dow Chemical in 2011 United States · 2007–2021
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: conservation group; cooperation partner
- Nature Conservancy gas drilling on Texas City Prairie Preserve United States · 1995–2014
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Landowner and driller
- Nonylphenol ethoxylates: Swiss ban and EU restriction Switzerland · 1984–2014
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Adopted Directive 2003/53/EC
- Palau National Marine Sanctuary Palau · 2015
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Donor group member; former employer of the Agriculture Minister; Micronesia director named in the bill
- Pará state pre-sold 12 million REDD+ credits; federal prosecutors sue to cancel Brazil · 2023–2026
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Named by the MPF as having a conflict of interest
- Plastic waste imports into Türkiye (Adana) Türkiye · 2016–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Assessed Türkiye under Article 45(5) of the Waste Shipment Regulation
- Posidonia oceanica meadows (Balearics, Mediterranean) Spain · 2018–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Habitats Directive: Posidonia beds are a priority habitat
- Prestige Spain · 2002–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Provided more than €275m in aid
- Seychelles 2016 debt-for-nature swap listed among TNC Nature Bonds Seychelles · 2016
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Runs the Nature Bonds programme that lists the Seychelles pilot
- TNC chief scientist urged conservation groups to partner with companies United States · 2011–2015
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Employer of Kareiva; Dow Chemical partner; subject of the essay
- TNC Hawaii coral reef parametric insurance United States · 2022–2026
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Policyholder
- Trade rules curb green industrial policy; WTO rules against Indonesia nickel ban Global · 2013–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Complainant in the Indonesia nickel case; respondent in the palm oil and CBAM disputes
- US Senate probes Nature Conservancy land sales to its own trustees United States · 2003
- The Nature Conservancy (NGO) — here: reported water fund operator; there: Organisation whose land sales were the subject of the inquiry
- Uzbek cotton boycott ends forced labour Uzbekistan · 2017–2026
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Trade partner (trade preference)
- WTO panel backs EU on palm biofuel rules in Malaysia case Global · 2025
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Respondent; set the renewable-status rules
- WTO panel found Indonesia's raw nickel export ban breached rules Indonesia · 2020–2022
- European Union (International organisation) — here: funder of the WaTER programme; there: Brought the complaint at the WTO