The reforestation of the Kakamega forest and the education programs faciliated for the Kakamega community are spearheaded by the KEEP organisation (Kakamega Environmental Education Program) in Kakamega county, Kenya. The vision of KEEP is to educate the local community on nature-based enterprise solutions through reforestation and enage them with nature conservation.

KEEP’s mission is to create a more environemntally sustainable community for the residents that surround the Kakamega Forest providing them with ooprtunitnties to generate income in a way that benefits the environment and the health of their community.

KEEP’s primary goal is reforesting Kenya’s only tropical rainforest, the Kakamega forest. A forest that was once rich in biodiversity and lush with plants life that has seen a continuos depletion in canopy cover since the British collinisation in 1920. 

Objectives include:
● To rehabilitate 492 hectares of forest within the Kakamega forest.

● To contunue to faciliate KEEP’s Satuday Environmental Club for lcoal high school students, prividing them with conservation education and employment ooprtunties to work in the conservation activities of the forest.

● Providing workshops on medicanla plants for the lcoal community as a means of financial aleviation from medical bills
● To create employment through bee keeping, butterfly farming and energy saving stoves in order to equip the community with nature-based enterprise solutions.

They have already planted 26 hectares with the support of local and international and individual donors. Other partners are  Kenya Forest Service & Community Forest Association.

The project is a community-centric approach, ensuring that all activites are of benefit to both the local community and the local environment.

Community particiaption will be constantly encouraged in order to ensure its long- term sustainability.

The nature-based enterprise solutions will generate income that will provide financial sustainability and job opportunities, while the training will ensure that local members of the communities will gain the necessary skills and abilities to maintain the projects.

This project will be an important stepping stone that will help KEEP in reaching one of its main goals: the restoration of more than 450 ha of canopy cover in the Kakamega forest.

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