Mau Forest loss and forest excisions (Kenya)
- More than 700 people were displaced or listed for relocation.Evicted from the Mau by the Kenya Forest Service and the Kenya Wildlife Service in November 2023.
- Researchers Global Forest Watch: Showed more than 19% loss of tree cover in 2001–2022 (19%, 533 km²). Kenyans.co.ke
- Press and investigations Mongabay: Reported that the loss fell in 2021–22 and rose in 2023, according to satellite data. Mongabay
- Government and regulators Kenya Forest Service: Said satellite images do not reflect the real situation on the ground. Kenyans.co.ke
- Government and regulators Government of Kenya (National Forest Status Report 2024): Estimated 84,716 ha of deforestation and 14,934 ha of degradation a year nationally.
- Government and regulators Kenya Forest Service (2021 assessment): Forest cover 8.83%; tree cover, which also counts trees outside official forests, 12.13%; its forest definition requires at least 0.5 ha, 15% crown cover and 2 m height.
- Government and regulators President Uhuru Kenyatta: Said cover rose from 6.99% in 2013 to 8.83% in 2022 (1 June 2022).
- Communities and civil society A fact-checking site: Found the claim false: 6.99% was 2010 data, and another official report gave 5.60% for 2013 and 5.90% for 2018.
- Researchers Isaac Kalua, then chair of the Water Towers body (opinion piece): Wrote that 7.1% had been corrected to 7.2% without explanation and that agencies were under pressure to meet the 10% target.
Satellite data showed the Mau Forest lost 19% of its tree cover in 2001–2022. Kenya's Forest Service said satellite images did not reflect the situation on the ground, and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights ruled on the eviction of the Ogiek people from the forest.
Global Forest Watch satellite data, as reported by Mongabay and Kenyans.co.ke; the Kenya Forest Service disputed the use of satellite images.
Status As of November 2024 (latest Mau-specific record): GFW data showed a 19% loss of tree cover in 2001–2022, which the Forest Service disputed; no record of implementation of the 2022 reparations judgment was verified.
- The Ogiek people and others evicted from the Mau — The African Court found violations of their rights (2017) and ordered compensation and collective land titles (2022); more than 700 people were evicted in November 2023.
What happened
The Mau Forest is described by Mongabay as Kenya's largest water-capturing forest. Satellite data from Global Forest Watch (GFW) showed a loss of 19% of its tree cover, or 533 km², in 2001–2022. According to Mongabay, the loss fell in 2021–22 and rose in 2023. When GFW showed more than 19% loss, the Kenya Forest Service said satellite images did not reflect the situation on the ground (Kenyans.co.ke, 28 November 2024). The 2024 National Forest Status Report estimated 84,716 hectares of deforestation and 14,934 hectares of degradation a year for the whole country.
On the Ogiek people of the Mau Forest, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights issued a merits judgment on 26 May 2017 finding violations of Articles 2, 8, 14, 17, 21 and 22. It issued a reparations judgment in June 2022 ordering compensation and collective land titles; the compensation was recorded as 157.85 million Kenya shillings. Evictions had restarted in 2020. In November 2023 the Kenya Forest Service and the Kenya Wildlife Service evicted more than 700 people from the Mau. Courts in Nakuru (10 November) and Narok (23 November) issued orders halting the evictions.
Kenya's forest figures differ by definition. The Kenya Forest Service's 2021 assessment gave forest cover as 8.83% and tree cover, which also counts trees outside official forests, as 12.13%; the Service defines forest as at least 0.5 ha, 15% crown cover and 2 m height. The constitutional target of 10% is tied to tree cover. A fact-checking site found a claim by then President Kenyatta, that cover rose from 6.99% in 2013 to 8.83% in 2022, to be false: 6.99% was 2010 data, and another official report gave 5.60% for 2013 and 5.90% for 2018. The government's target is 30% tree cover and 15 billion trees by 2032.
In July 2023 President Ruto lifted the 2018 ban on tree felling; a court set the decision aside in October 2023. On 13 November 2023 the government set a one-day target of 100 million seedlings for a national tree-planting day.
- 2001Start of the period over which GFW recorded a 19% tree cover loss in the Mau Forest (to 2022)
- 201726 May: African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights merits judgment on the Ogiek (violations of Articles 2, 8, 14, 17, 21, 22)
- 2018Kenya-wide ban on tree felling introduced
- 2020Evictions of the Ogiek restart
- 2022June: reparations judgment (compensation and collective land titles)
- 2023July: tree felling ban lifted; October: court sets the decision aside; 10 and 23 November: Nakuru and Narok courts halt evictions of more than 700 people; 13 November: national tree-planting day with a target of 100 million seedlings
- 202428 November: Kenyans.co.ke reports GFW data and the Forest Service response
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Showed more than 19% loss of tree cover in 2001–2022 (19%, 533 km²).
Kenyans.co.keReported that the loss fell in 2021–22 and rose in 2023, according to satellite data.
MongabaySaid satellite images do not reflect the real situation on the ground.
Kenyans.co.keEstimated 84,716 ha of deforestation and 14,934 ha of degradation a year nationally.
Forest cover 8.83%; tree cover, which also counts trees outside official forests, 12.13%; its forest definition requires at least 0.5 ha, 15% crown cover and 2 m height.
Said cover rose from 6.99% in 2013 to 8.83% in 2022 (1 June 2022).
Found the claim false: 6.99% was 2010 data, and another official report gave 5.60% for 2013 and 5.90% for 2018.
Wrote that 7.1% had been corrected to 7.2% without explanation and that agencies were under pressure to meet the 10% target.
Found violations of Articles 2, 8, 14, 17, 21 and 22 (26 May 2017) and ordered compensation and collective land titles (June 2022).
Issued orders halting the November 2023 evictions (10 and 23 November 2023).
Carried out the November 2023 evictions of more than 700 people; no statement of their own recorded.
How it looked
Shown
- Forest cover rose from 6.99% in 2013 to 8.83% in 2022President Uhuru Kenyatta, 1 June 2022 (found false by a fact-checking site)
- A one-day target of 100 million seedlings on the national tree-planting dayGovernment of Kenya, 13 November 2023
Recorded
- Mau Forest tree cover loss 2001–2022: 19%, 533 km² (GFW); loss fell in 2021–22 and rose in 2023
- African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights: merits judgment 26 May 2017; reparations judgment June 2022
- More than 700 people evicted from the Mau by the Kenya Forest Service and the Kenya Wildlife Service in November 2023; Nakuru and Narok courts halted the evictions
- National estimate, 2024: 84,716 ha of deforestation and 14,934 ha of degradation a year
- Official forest cover 8.83% and tree cover 12.13% (2021 data)
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- kfs (2024-11): Said satellite images do not reflect the real situation on the ground, in response to GFW data showing more than 19% loss in 2001–2022. · Kenyans.co.ke
- kenya-gov (2023-07): Lifted the tree felling ban in July 2023; a court set the decision aside in October 2023.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2022-06Claimant wonKES 157.85m million Kenya shillings, compensation as recordedOgiek of the Mau ForestAfrican Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · International court · Ogiek community → Government of Kenya
Merits judgment on 26 May 2017 found violations of Articles 2, 8, 14, 17, 21 and 22. A reparations judgment in June 2022 ordered compensation and collective land titles. Evictions had restarted in 2020. Whether the judgment has been implemented was not verified.
- 2023-11-23Outcome not on recordEvictions of more than 700 people from the Mau, November 2023Courts in Nakuru and Narok · Civil · → Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service
After the Kenya Forest Service and the Kenya Wildlife Service evicted more than 700 people in November 2023, courts in Nakuru (10 November) and Narok (23 November) issued orders halting the evictions. The parties who sought the orders are not named in the record.
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
- Disputed How much tree cover has the Mau Forest lost?
- Disputed How much of Kenya is forest?
Court
- Unclear Evictions of more than 700 people from the Mau, November 2023: outcome not on record.
Accounts
- Disputed Were the Ogiek lawfully evicted from the Mau Forest?
- None on record Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service: Carried out the November 2023 evictions of more than 700 people; no statement of their own recorded.
Record
- None on record No record was found of the number of seedlings actually planted on the 13 November 2023 tree-planting day.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the 2001 de-gazettement of about 59,000–67,000 ha of Kenyan forest, including 35,301 ha from East Mau, by gazette notice, and a finding by the Ndung'u Commission in 2005 that most forest-land allocations ignored ecological effects (BirdLife data zone).
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Ogiek community representatives said the 2022 reparations judgment had not been implemented (Nation).
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: some organisations linked the November 2023 destruction of Ogiek homes in the Mau to carbon deals; a direct link was not established in the record.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a figure of about 6.7% for Kenyan forest cover under the FAO definition.
Did the harm stop?
Evictions were halted by court orders in November 2023; Mau tree cover loss rose in 2023 after falling in 2021–22.
Who paid?
Not established in the record.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Satellite images expose hidden crisis in Mau ForestKenyans.co.ke · 2024-11-28
Communities and civil society
Connected cases
- Kenya evicts more than 700 people from Mau Forest where Ogiek won at court Kenya · 2023 Related matter
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: Agency that carried out the 2023 evictions
- Kenya Wildlife Service (Public authority) — here: Carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Forest Service; there: Agency that carried out the 2023 evictions
- African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (Court) — here: Court that ruled on the Ogiek case; there: Ruled on the merits (2017) and reparations (2022)
- Kenya's 15 billion trees target Kenya · 2018–2026
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: Official forest-cover measurement; disputed satellite data on the Mau
- Government of Kenya (Government) — here: Government of Kenya; party to the African Court case; there: Set the 15 billion trees target; lifted the logging ban
- Kenya's two official figures: 8.83% forest cover and 12.13% tree cover Kenya · 2001–2026
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: national forest assessment; disputed satellite-based loss figures
- Global Forest Watch (Research institution) — here: Satellite data on tree cover loss; there: satellite data source for Mau Forest tree cover loss
- Sengwer evictions from Embobut forest and the EU Water Towers programme (Kenya) Kenya · 2014–2024
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: Forest authority whose guards carried out the evictions
- Government of Kenya (Government) — here: Government of Kenya; party to the African Court case; there: Government partner in the programme
- Endorois and Lake Bogoria enzyme extraction (Kenya) Kenya · 1970–2026
- Kenya Wildlife Service (Public authority) — here: Carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Forest Service; there: Kenyan state wildlife service named in the sources reviewed among the parties on the state side
- Green Belt Movement and Karura Forest, Kenya Kenya · 1977–2023
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: Forest authority; disputed satellite figures for the Mau Forest
- Kenya logging ban lifted and eucalyptus felling Kenya · 2018–2024
- Government of Kenya (Government) — here: Government of Kenya; party to the African Court case; there: Lifted the logging ban and set the 15 billion tree target
- Kenya suspends Microsoft and G42 geothermal data centre plan at Naivasha Kenya · 2026
- Government of Kenya (Government) — here: Government of Kenya; party to the African Court case; there: Suspended the plan
- Kenyan forest guards shoot dead Sengwer herder Robert Kirotich during evictions Kenya · 2018–2024
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: forest guards; operator of the evictions
- Kenyan water-tower forest evictions followed a 2018 killing by forest guards Kenya · 2016–2024
- Kenya Forest Service (Public authority) — here: Forest authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: forest guards and eviction operations
- Nairobi River regeneration and riparian demolitions Kenya · 2024–2025
- Government of Kenya (Government) — here: Government of Kenya; party to the African Court case; there: Ordered the riparian demolitions
- Northern Kenya Grasslands Carbon Project and the Isiolo court ruling Kenya · 2012–2026
- Kenya Wildlife Service (Public authority) — here: Carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Forest Service; there: Ordered by the court to revoke licences
- UNESCO World Heritage listings and Indigenous rights Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda · 1991–2025
- Kenya Wildlife Service (Public authority) — here: Carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Forest Service; there: Kenya Wildlife Service
- Wildlife fell on Kenyan rangelands after the 1977 hunting ban, study finds Kenya · 1977–2016
- Government of Kenya (Government) — here: Government of Kenya; party to the African Court case; there: Imposed the 1977 trophy hunting ban
- 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 authority; carried out the November 2023 evictions with the Kenya Wildlife Service; there: Agency whose guards carried out the raid