A Corruption Risk Assessment for REDD+ in Kenya
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Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources A Corruption Risk Assessment for REDD+ in Kenya KENYA REDD+ ANALYTICAL SERIES - ISSUE #1 NOVEMBER 2013 UNEP Empowered lives. Resilient nations. The Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources is vested with the Government mandate is to monitor, protect, conserve and manage the environment and natural resources. This mandate is discharged through specialized agencies including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). The Directorates of Environment and Natural Resource based at the Ministry headquarters provide the required policy guidance. Two Departments have been established within the Ministry for effi cient discharge of responsibilities; the State Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the State Department of Water. Climate Change response Programmes, including REDD+ are coordinated from the State Department on Environment and Natural Resources. The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on UN-REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) PROGRAMME in developing countries. The Programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP Empowered lives. The UN-REDD Programme supports nationally-led REDD+ processes and Resilient nations. promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation. U4 is a web-based resource centre for development practitioners who wish to eff ectively address corruption challenges in their work. U4 is operated by the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) – an independent centre for research on international development and policy – and is funded by AusAID (Australia), BTC (Belgium), CIDA (Canada), DANIDA (Denmark), DFID (UK), BMZ and GIZ (Germany), Norad (Norway), Sida (Sweden) and The Ministry of Foreign Aff airs, Finland. A Corruption Risk Assessment for REDD+ in Kenya TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................................1 List of acronyms .................................................................................................................................................3 List of fi gures .......................................................................................................................................................4 Executive summary ..........................................................................................................................................5 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................9 1.1 Objective and purpose of this report .........................................................................................9 1.2 Methods of research ......................................................................................................................10 1.2.1 Range of methodologies ...................................................................................................10 1.2.2 Limitations ..............................................................................................................................11 1.3 Trends in deforestation and forest degradation in kenya ................................................12 1.4 The status of REDD+ in Kenya ....................................................................................................13 2. Context ..........................................................................................................................................................15 2.1 The historical role of corruption in Kenya’s forestry sector ..............................................15 2.2 Key developments in forest governance in Kenya from the mid-2000s .....................20 3. Corruption contributing to deforestation and forest degradation in Kenya .......................23 3.1 Forest land tenure, excisions & evictions ................................................................................23 3.1.1 Devolution and community lands .................................................................................25 3.1.2 Infrastructure development and industrial expansion ..........................................26 3.2 Illegal logging and forest crimes ...............................................................................................28 3.2.1 Cross border trade ...............................................................................................................30 3.3 Charcoal sector ................................................................................................................................32 3.3.1 Cross border trade in charcoal ........................................................................................35 3.4 Management of government plantation forests .................................................................35 3.5 Participatory forest management and community forest associations ......................37 3.6 Private concessions or non timber forest products in public forests ...........................40 3.7 Common elements and trends ..................................................................................................41 4. Addressing corruption in the forestry sector...................................................................................43 4.1 Transparency and access to information ................................................................................44 4.2 Strengthening accountability and oversight mechanisms .............................................48 4.3 Deepening decentralization .......................................................................................................52 5. Perspectives on corruption risks of REDD+ activities in Kenya .................................................55 5.1 Positive views on governance implications of REDD+ in Kenya ....................................55 5.2 Understanding perceptions on corruption risks .................................................................57 5.2.1 Distributing benefi ts ...........................................................................................................57 5.2.2 MRV ...........................................................................................................................................59 5.2.3 Land use planning, land allocation & free prior informed consent ...............................................................................................................................................60 5.2.4 Integrity of civil society ......................................................................................................61 6. Policy implications and recommendations ......................................................................................63 Clarity and planning for a benefi t-sharing policy ......................................................................65 Establish policy and mechanisms on transparency and access to information ..............................................................................................................................................65 Community mapping of forests for REDD+ MRV .......................................................................66 Strengthening participation in REDD+ activities and improving knowledge ................................................................................................................................................67 Supporting independent oversight for REDD+ activities .......................................................67 Harmonizing and strengthening mechanisms for public reporting of corruption in REDD+ activities .....................................................................................................68 Strengthening government capacity to detect and redress corruption in REDD+ .............................................................................................................................68 Establishing a code of ethics for REDD+ activities in Kenya ...................................................70 Enhancing regional collaboration in law enforcement and anti-corruption........................................................................................................................................70 7. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................71 Bibliography .....................................................................................................................................................72 A Corruption Risk Assessment for REDD+ in Kenya Acknowledgments This report was prepared for Kenya’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (MEW&NR) by André Standing (U4/CMI) and Michael Gachanja. It received overall guidance from Alfred N. Gichu, National REDD+ Coordinator, MEW&NR, Josep Gari, UNDP, UN-REDD Programme Africa, David