Can Small-Holder Trees Supplement the Public Plantations in the Wood Market? The Case of Kenya’s Logging Moratorium

Abstract

Kenya’s public forest sector plantations have been the main source of round-wood for wood-based industries but several factors have reduced its capacity to meet increasing demands, resulting in huge deficits. The growth of smallholder forestry over the last three decades has demonstrated the potential to supplement the deficits. The imposed logging moratorium in public and community forests in 2002-2012 and 2018 not only opened markets for smallholder tree growers but also increased demand pressure from various wood consumers. This paper presents an assessment of the status of farm-based wood resources three years within the latest moratorium period and the potential of farm tree resources to complement wood from public forest plantations. Data were collected from 56 households using semi-structured interviews, key in-formants interviews, and a rapid assessment of standing and harvested trees from 146 on-farm plots. The main commercial tree species found on the farms were; Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalyptus sp., Grevillea robusta, Pinus patula, and Acacia mearnsii. Eucalypts were the most planted trees with an average land size of 1.08 ha. The farm tree resources have sustained some level of wood demand since the moratorium, as indicated by the high volume of wood harvested. The study found that about 40% of current wood resources consisted of trees less than 5 years, and most harvests were of small diameter classes which are essentially juvenile wood and are unsuitable for structural and fur-niture techniques be undertaken and a progressive and supportive policy framework on harvesting and trade of trees on-farm be developed.