Assessing the Impacts of Bioenergy Extraction and Human Land Use of the Biodiversity of Kakamega Tropical Rainforest, Kenya
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ASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF BIOENERGY EXTRACTION AND HUMAN LAND USE OF THE BIODIVERSITY OF KAKAMEGA TROPICAL RAINFOREST, KENYA Christopher Amutabi Kefa A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE August 2016 Committee: Andrew Gregory, Advisor Anita Simic Kefa Otiso Yu Zhou © 2016 Christopher Amutabi Kefa All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Andrew Gregory, Advisor Tropical rainforests are globally recognized as important biodiversity areas. Most of these forests are situated in regions with high population density, high poverty and high unemployment which leave local people little choice but to use forests resources to survive. Consequently, tropical forests are rapidly declining due to deforestation and unsustainable consumptive utilization of their natural resources. One of the main challenges facing efficient management and protection of tropical forests is reconciling human needs of the forest resources with biodiversity conservation interests. The objective of this study was to examine coupled nature of how human use of the forest impact biodiversity and biodiversity influence where humans use the forest. The study investigated patterns of wood harvest across Kakamega Tropical Rainforest and quantified rate and amount of wood harvested from the forest. Point sample Timber Cruising methodology and pitfall trapping were used to assess trees and arthropods respectively to characterize the status of forest health. Results showed that wood harvesters preferred indigenous as opposed to non-indigenous wood and that indigenous wood was sold for a premium price. Moreover, natural forest areas that had indigenous and rare tree species were targeted by humans for wood extraction, suggesting a bidirectional influence of human use on forest biodiversity and biodiversity on human use. Conservation of Kakamega forest is linked to social and economic development of the people living near it. Consequently, market economies may be able to incentivize forest conservation since it seems to drive forest use. This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter one provides a general introduction about the study and the study area. Chapter two is a standalone entity and a peer review paper (short communication) that describes iv assessment of the rate and quantity of wood harvested from Kakamega forest. Similarly, Chapter three which is also a standalone entity, explains forest health assessment, and how management of the forest and the two conservation interventions (tea belts and energy efficient cook stoves) have impacted forest health. Chapter four gives summary of the study findings, recommendations, study limitations, and suggestions for future research work. v “The book of nature has no beginning, as it has no end. Open this book where you will, and at any period of your life, and if you have the desire to acquire knowledge you will find it of intense interest, and no matter how long or how intently you study the pages, your interest will not flag, for in nature there is no finality” Jim Corbett vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am highly grateful to my Masters Advisor Dr. Andrew J. Gregory, and research committee members: Dr. Anita Simic, Dr. Kefa Otiso and Dr. Yu Zhou for their guidance and commendable mentoring during the whole period of my study. I am grateful to BGSU and Eco2librium Company Ltd for providing material, financial and technical support. I gratefully acknowledge Genetic Research in Applied Spatial Ecology (GRASE) Lab members for their support. I also thank Herbert Imbuka, Emma Spence, Gregory Brinkman, and Nadejda Mirochnitchenko, who were technicians on this project. I thank all Eco2librium staff for their support during the entire study period, and in particular Herbert Imbuka for his assistance with field data collection. My sincere gratitude goes to my wife Melissa for her support and encouragement throughout the period of my study, and especially for taking all parenting responsibilities for our children in my absence. My special regards to my son Eliud, daughters Valary and Janice for bearing with my absence gracefully. I am indebted to my Mum and late Dad (who passed on at the time I was starting my studies) for their encouragement and prayers. Many thanks to my brothers, sisters and friends for their encouragement and support. I highly appreciate the Kenya National Commission for Science and Technology (NACOSTI), Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the County government of Kakamega County for issuing permits that allowed me to undertake fieldwork. I also thank our collaborators at the National Museum of Kenya for administrative, logistical and technical support. I also thank the numerous anonymous research participants who spoke with us in the field and allowed us to weigh their wood bundles. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF KAKAMEGA FOREST STUDY AREA .......... 3 The People ..................................................................................................... 3 Overview of The Kakamega Forest ............................................................... 5 Biodiversity of Kakamega Forest ...................................................... 5 Management of Kakamega Forest ..................................................... 6 Other Conservation Interventions .................................................................. 6 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................... 9 RESEARCH AUTHORIZATION AND PERMITS .................................................. 10 CHAPTER TWO: QUANTIFYING THE RATE OF SUBSISTENCE WOOD HARVESTING FROM KAKAMEGA TROPICAL RAINFOREST IN KENYA ............... 11 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... 11 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 12 METHODS ................................................................................................................ 13 Study Area ..................................................................................................... 13 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 13 Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 16 RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 17 Descriptive Results (Wood Measurement) .................................................... 17 Statistical Results ........................................................................................... 19 Wood Markets Results ................................................................................... 20 viii DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER THREE: HUMAN USE, BIODIVERSITY, AND FOREST MANAGEMENT: ANALYSIS OF COUPLED NATURAL AND HUMAN SYSTEM INTERACTIONS IN THE KAKAMEGA RAINFOREST OF KENYA ............................. 24 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... 24 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 25 METHODS ................................................................................................................ 27 Study Site ....................................................................................................... 27 Sampling Procedure and Data Collection ...................................................... 29 Forest Biodiversity ............................................................................. 29 Characterizing Biodiversity of the Forest .......................................... 34 Human Use of the Forest ................................................................... 34 Land Management Outside and Inside the Forest .............................. 35 SPATIAL DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 35 Edge Effect..................................................................................................... 35 Kriging Interpolation ..................................................................................... 36 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ........................................ 37 Unsupervised Iso-Cluster Classification ........................................................ 37 STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................... 38 RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 39 Descriptive Results ........................................................................................ 39 Spatial Analysis Results ................................................................................. 39 Kriging Interpolation Results ......................................................................... 40 ix Statistical Analysis Results ...........................................................................