Njukiine forest: Transformation of a common-property resource

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.