Total Economic Value of Maasai Mau, Trans Mara and Eastern Mau ...

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The Mau forest contains a rich diversity of bird fauna and has been accorded theImportant Bird Areas status. Forty-nine of Kenya’s 67 Afro-tropical highland birdspecies are known to occur in the Mau Forest Complex, including the grey throatedbarbet, bush shrike, Equatorial Akalat, red-chested owlet, Banded Prinia and BlackfacedRufous warbler. Of these bird species, 11 are listed in CITES I and II category,including the Verreaux eagle, Amani sunbird and Taita thrush. Others include regionalendemic species, such as Hartlaubs turaco, the restricted range Hunter’s Cisticola andJackson’s Francolin.The Mau Forest Complex hosts great biodiversity that could be of great value to thefuture generations. The Convention on Biological Diversity provides an internationalfoundation in which the societal and private benefits arising from its conservation canbe equitably optimized. The value of biological resources as raw materials in thepharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors though in total economic value may changeupwards with growing interests in commercial exploitation of biological resources.There is potential for some forest biological resources attaining commercial valueswhen their uses are discovered. For example, currently unused species might combatsome new disease or attack existing health problems more effectively. Thus the richbiological diversity can generate a series of benefits through bio-prospecting fees, siteentrance fees, patent application fees, patent processing fees, annual user fees, transferpayments and royalties.The biological diversity potential for the Mau Forest Complex is under severe threatfrom settlements and other human induced land uses changes currently taking place.These developments threaten to wipe out the future prospects for biodiversityexploitation and even the existence values that people place on forest existenceindependent of the values of particular uses. This value is assessed using theinstitutions investment in research on biodiversity resources.6.1.3 Carbon SequestrationForest, by virtue of photosynthesis, absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere tobuild its biomass, hence reducing the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide in aprocess common referred to as carbon sequestration. For the forest to sequester carbonit is essential that the fixed carbon dioxide gas is not released into the atmosphere56
through burning or rotting when the trees die. Thus forests need to be managed inperpetuity to minimize release of the stored carbon into the atmosphere. Forest soilsform an important store of carbon and leaving them intact makes them an effectivecarbon sink, offsetting significant amounts of carbon dioxide emissions annually.However, the capacity for carbon sequestration and storage in the Mau forest blocks hasbeen reduced by forest clearing and burning that have released large amounts of carbondioxide into the atmosphere. This negates the carbon sequestration balance sheet andthe chances of benefiting from carbon trade facility. The current developments in thethree forest blocks reduces the amount of carbon stored in biomass by releasing morecarbon into the atmosphere mostly through forest clearing by burning. Thus the currentactivities lowers the capacity of the three forest blocks will to store carbon and hence thepotential carbon stock values.6.1.4 Water Provisioning for Human, Livestock and AgricultureThe excisions, encroachments and illegal logging have continued to destroy large areasof the forest blocks in the upper catchments of the Mara River Basin. For example,between 1986 and 2003 the closed canopy forest decreased by 23% whereas agriculturalactivities expanded by 55%. The conversion of the forests into agricultural land andexpansion of land under intensive agriculture has increased soil erosion and reducedthe water flow regulation capacity of the forests and other vegetation. The currentthreats to water resources in the Mara River Basin are related to rapid populationgrowth and the associated intensification of small-scale agricultural activities in theheadwater catchments of the basin. These developments have significantly changed thequality and quantity of water flowing in the river. Current farming practices facilitatesoil erosion that carries along with it chemical fertilizers from farms. Current farmingpractices also diminish the rate of rainfall infiltration into soils and thus recharging ofgroundwater aquifers. This leads to more intensive storm runoff during the rainymonths and reduced base flows during dry months.The implications of these developments are felt mostly in water processing and in theeconomic sectors that rely heavily on the extraction from the Mara River Basin. The costof implementing water sedimentation and purifying facilities to produce water fit for57
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2011THE TOTAL ECONOMIC VALUEOF MAAS
Page 3:
Executive SummaryThe Mau Forest Com
Page 9 and 10: 6.0 POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF THE CURR
Page 11 and 12: Table 4: Roundwood production from
Page 13 and 14: • Widespread perception on resour
Page 15 and 16: Economic valuation of forest goods
Page 17 and 18: 2.0 METHODS FOR ESTIMATING ECONOMIC
Page 19 and 20: 2.1.3 Prices of SubstitutesThe pric
Page 21 and 22: with interest ranging from the impa
Page 23 and 24: watershed protection functions are
Page 25 and 26: Nakuru. The south-western watershed
Page 27 and 28: 3.0 THE TOTAL ECONOMIC VALUE OF THR
Page 29 and 30: Unit price 100 100 15,700 1,000 1,0
Page 31 and 32: 3.1.2 Direct Use by the Ogiek Commu
Page 33 and 34: The upper catchment of the Mara Riv
Page 35 and 36: the river. Because we did not obtai
Page 37 and 38: The role of the Mara Basin in touri
Page 39: The value of the carbon stock outli
Page 42 and 43: 4.0 ASSESSING THE DISTRIBUTION OF T
Page 44 and 45: We obtained an estimated number of
Page 46 and 47: Figure 4: The distribution of the i
Page 48 and 49: Figure 5: Distribution of benefits
Page 50 and 51: For the local communities living ne
Page 52 and 53: staff in coordination, management a
Page 54 and 55: 6.0 POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF THE CURR
Page 58 and 59: domestic and industrial uses can be
Page 60 and 61: Table 11: The impacts of current st
Page 62 and 63: 8. Resettling the Ogiek community a
Page 64 and 65: economic conditions exist for local
Page 66 and 67: Innovative conservation incentives
Page 68 and 69: to restrict or forbid future develo
Page 70 and 71: practices would be best for some ke
Page 72 and 73: egimes of the forests. In order to
Page 74 and 75: Hodgson, G., and J. A. Dixon. 1988.
Page 76 and 77: Services in the Mara River Basin. G
Page 78 and 79: national income and livelihood of p
Page 80 and 81: 7. Duration of AssignmentThe consul
Page 82 and 83: for 40 litres of water equivalent t
Page 84 and 85: Appendix 3: The checklist of data c
Page 86 and 87: TanzaniaConservation,SUA NationalAg
Page 88 and 89: Appendix 6: Relationship between to
Page 90 and 91: Appendix 8: Rapid result questionna
Page 92 and 93: Appendix 10: Categorization of stak
Page 94 and 95: Appendix 12: The Mara River Basin94
Page 96: Appendix 14: Valuation approaches f
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Total Economic Value of Maasai Mau, Trans Mara and Eastern Mau ...

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