Karura Forest at risk of slipping away from the people who saved it

When bulldozers first appeared in Karura Forest in the late 1990s, it seemed Nairobi was about to lose one of its last great green lungs. Title deeds had been distributed to private developers. Roads were being cut into the woodland. Even with a Forest Department in place, nothing was done to stop the destruction.

The turning point came in January 1998, when environmentalist Professor Wangari Maathai, working with the Greenbelt Movement, led a bold protest against the illegal developments. Despite attempts to block her, Maathai entered the forest through the Huruma community, a low-income informal settlement in Nairobi bordering Karura Forest, confronting builders who were constructing access roads on the grabbed land. She was violently attacked and hospitalised, sparking outrage among supporters.

The following day, university students and concerned citizens rallied together, storming the forest, removing the illegal developers, and destroying their equipment. This decisive action halted further encroachment and gave Maathai the momentum to push for systemic change.

Elected to parliament in 2002 and later appointed Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, Maathai championed reforms in forest management. Drawing inspiration from participatory forest management models in Indonesia and Nepal, she helped draft the Kenya Forest Act of 2005. This law empowered local communities to form Community Forest Associations (CFAs), giving them a legal voice in managing and protecting forests.

Karura Forest’s CFA, founded in 2009 with Maathai as patron, played a pivotal role in restoring the forest. The association, with the help of Prof. Karanja Njoroge, now a Friends of Karura Forest (FKF) Board member and a key figure in the forest’s management, developed a comprehensive management plan and raised over 20 million shillings from the public to build a protective fence. Contrary to claims by government agencies, the CFA asserts that the rescue and rehabilitation of Karura Forest was driven by community action and public support—not government funding.

Before this, Karura had been notorious for insecurity, robberies, and even bodies dumped in its thickets. Today, families jog, cycle, birdwatch, and picnic under the canopy—a transformation driven not by government, but by ordinary Kenyans.

The CFA’s efforts were formalised in 2013, when the Friends of Karura Forest (FKF) signed a co-management agreement with the Kenya Forest Service.

Under the agreement, a Joint Management Committee (JMC) was established, granting both KFS and FKF oversight of all forest activities and financial decisions. All funds collected for forest management are deposited into a joint account, with signatories from both organisations.

The FKF employs 137 staff members, while KFS provides rangers and a forester. Additionally, the initiative supports local communities by organising working groups from neighbouring villages, offering them employment for forest maintenance tasks—injecting 1.5 million shillings into the community.

Yet, even today, Karura’s future is not without threats. On August 28, 2025, KFS suddenly directed that all gate entry, parking, and service payments will now be made exclusively through the government’s E-Citizen payment system, sidelining FKF staff and sparking fears of lost transparency.

Prof. Karanja Njoroge, an FKF board member and a key figure in the forest’s management, expressed shock at the sudden move.

“We have never been requested to use E-Citizen. We just woke up one morning and found KFS manning our gates, kicking our staff out, telling them not to wear their uniforms, and asking people to pay them exorbitantly.” Prof. Njoroge said during an interview on Monday with the Nation FM's Fixing the Nation show.

Prof. Njoroge emphasised that the forest is meant for all Kenyans, not just the affluent. “The forest is not for the wealthy. The forest is not for the Runda and Muthaiga people. The forest caters to the common man in Githurai who seeks solitude, enjoys a stroll in the forest, maintains fitness, or engages in other activities.

He also highlighted the lack of consultation from KFS, despite a longstanding co-management agreement. “There was no consultation. There was absolutely no consultation. We have never been requested to use E-Citizen. We can show you the minutes of a joint forest management committee—never have they come to us to say that,” Prof. Njoroge stated.

Other Topics To Read

• City Affairs
• Kenya Forest Service
• Karura Forest fees
• Friends of Karura Forest
• Friends of Karura Forest Association
• Karura Forest at risk of slipping away from the people who saved it
• Headlines

According to Prof. Njoroge, FKF has invested over Sh37 million and 15 years of volunteer time into Karura’s conservation.

Prof. Njoroge questioned why their operational independence was being undermined. “We are not the government. The money we raise to save Karura is not government money. Why are people collecting tolls on the motorway? Why are the Chinese collecting that money? It’s a government road that they built. They invested in it. We invested 37 million, even more in terms of our time,” he argued.

The sudden changes have left FKF staff and visitors confused and concerned about the future. “I was woken up at six in the morning by people saying, ‘We are being told to get out of the forest,’” Prof. Njoroge recalled.

The Friends of Karura Forest are now calling for urgent negotiations with authorities to ensure that Karura Forest remains accessible and affordable for all Kenyans and that community voices are respected in future decisions.

Since the takeover by KFS, entry charges at Karura Forest have sharply increased. Previously, this writer would pay Sh100 for two people each and Sh200 for vehicle parking—a total of Sh400. Under the new system, the cost has increased to Sh174 per person and Sh290 for parking, raising the total to Sh638—an increase of Sh238, or more than 50 per cent.

“We are not against modernisation or accountability,” Prof. Njoroge concluded. “But any changes must be made transparently, with proper consultation, and with the interests of ordinary Kenyans and conservation at heart.”

Karura Forest, once infamous as a crime den where 18 bodies were found, is now one of Nairobi’s safest public havens.

Today, visitors can explore over 50 kilometres of walking and cycling trails, wander into caves and waterfalls, relax at picnic spots, or simply enjoy thriving wildlife. The 1,041-hectare (2,570-acre) woodland, split by Limuru and Kiambu roads, now shelters 260 bird species and animals, including suni, Harvey’s duiker, bush pigs, civets, Syke’s monkeys, porcupines, and even honey badgers.

But Karura’s story of survival is far from over. In 2019, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) admitted that developers were once again circling the land, sparking public outrage. Conservationists warned that complacency could undo years of progress.

In 2024, the Green Belt Movement filed a lawsuit to block the proposed expansion of Kiambu Road, which threatened to excise 51.64 acres of Karura Forest.

On August 14, 2025, the Environment and Land Court (ELC) dismissed an application by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to acquire the land for the project. KeNHA had sought the parcel under a special user licence issued by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS).

The court revoked those licences, ruling that they had been granted without proper public participation or environmental impact assessments (EIAs). The Green Belt Movement argued that the road expansion prioritised short-term economic gains over long-term environmental protection while also failing to consider climate risks and the views of affected communities.

“The respondents’ decision to proceed with the road construction...is a deeply misguided and detrimental move that puts the short-term economic gain of a small minority ahead of the long-term well-being of the nation’s environment and future generations,” the petition