TY - JOUR KW - Kenya KW - common property KW - conservation KW - agroforestry KW - Njukiine Forest KW - plantation forest KW - population KW - colonial KW - conservation history AU - Alfonso H. Peter Castro AB -

This paper examines the processes of socioeconomic, institutional, and ecological change at Njukiine Forest in Kirinyaga and Embu Districts, Kenya. It traces the area's transformation from a woodland managed on a common property basis by kinsmen and neighbors to a plantation forest operated by state-controlled organizations. The presentation highlights five aspects of this transformation:

  1. the precolonial common property regime, including the interplay between deliberate conservation practices and unintentional circumstances that protected the forest;
  2. population movements, commercial activities, and conflicts about tenure in the colonial era that undermined the old regime;
  3. protracted negotiations about Njukiine between the colonial state and the Embu Local Native Council, its designated institution for representing local interests;
  4. the short-lived management regime under council auspices; and
  5. the takeover of Njukiine by the Forest Department and its trusteeship by the Kirinyaga Districty County Council. Some implications of Njukiine's conservation history for contemporary community forestry efforts are discussed in the conclusion. Archival research and field work in Kenya during parts of 1982, 1983, and 1988 provide the basis for this study.
AN - 89-00212 BT - Forest & Conservation History C5 - 39 pp. DA - 10/1989 DO - 10.2307/3983495 IS - 4 LA - English N1 - Africa's Forests: A Special Issue and a Conference Notice (Oct., 1991) Aug 1989 is a draft. N2 -

This paper examines the processes of socioeconomic, institutional, and ecological change at Njukiine Forest in Kirinyaga and Embu Districts, Kenya. It traces the area's transformation from a woodland managed on a common property basis by kinsmen and neighbors to a plantation forest operated by state-controlled organizations. The presentation highlights five aspects of this transformation:

  1. the precolonial common property regime, including the interplay between deliberate conservation practices and unintentional circumstances that protected the forest;
  2. population movements, commercial activities, and conflicts about tenure in the colonial era that undermined the old regime;
  3. protracted negotiations about Njukiine between the colonial state and the Embu Local Native Council, its designated institution for representing local interests;
  4. the short-lived management regime under council auspices; and
  5. the takeover of Njukiine by the Forest Department and its trusteeship by the Kirinyaga Districty County Council. Some implications of Njukiine's conservation history for contemporary community forestry efforts are discussed in the conclusion. Archival research and field work in Kenya during parts of 1982, 1983, and 1988 provide the basis for this study.
PY - 1989 RN - Info leans toward a draft of an article published later: 39 pp. paper in CIKARD. DOI is for the published version. SP - 160 EP - 168 ST - Njukiine forest T2 - Forest & Conservation History TI - Njukiine forest: Transformation of a common-property resource UR - http://www.jstor.org/stable/3983495 VL - 35 ER -