Rainforest Alliance

This reforestation project is located in the Kakamega Forest, adjacent to both the Lake Victoria basin and the Great Rift Valley's Nandi Escarpment. In spite of the Kakamega Forest's protected status, nearly 50 percent of forest area in this lowland rainforest has been lost over the past seventy years. The forest is the only lowland rainforest remaining in Kenya and was designated a priority Kenyan conservation region by to the World Conservation Union -- in part because many species are endemic to the area. The project achieved "Gold Level" validation to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards for its commitment to provide opportunity to and improve quality-of-life for the local community (the regional poverty rate in 1999 was over 52 percent), as well as for its climate change adaptation activities, including innovative reforestation and soil erosion reduction practices.