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

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