The Impact of Population Increase On Forest Conservation in Wajir County North Eastern Province Kenya

ABSTRACT This research report set out to investigate the impact of population increase towards forest conservation in Wajir county. North Eastern province of Kenya. Its main objectives were to find out the causes of population increase; to identify the effects of population increase to forests; to explore the population control measures within the nearby communities and to suggest suitable solutions to the problem of population increase and forest conservation. The research study will he descriptive and qualitative in nature hence both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods will be used to gain an in depth understanding to find out the causes of population increase, identify the effects of population increase to forests, explore the population control measures within the nearby communities and suggest suitable forest conservation strategies put in place amidst population increase. The sample of 115 respondents will he considered and the research will be gender sensitive. The above discussion suggests that fertility and increase in population may be jointly determined, and that there is a need to separate these effects in order to identify the “causal” effects of family size on increase in population which leads to encroachment into the forest. After an analysis was done the study came up with the following recommendations; to strengthen efforts in forest conservation and the sustainable management of forest resources, it is imperative to ensure the participation of local community and that all national policy and strategies must indicate the forest area set aside for forest conservation and in the sustainable production of rules goods and services. To further ensure sustainable forest conservation and sustainable forest management, the prices of timber and timber products at the market place must fully reflect both their replacement and environmental costs, and that trade in forest products should be non-discriminatory and any unilateral measures to restrict and/or ban their trade should be removed or avoided. Enhancement of forest cover is to be viewed as a proactive measure taken to arrest and reverse the current trend of forest decline and degradation. x