# Kijabe Forest Trust

> Community trust protecting and replanting Kenya's 5,000-hectare Kijabe Forest

Source: https://treerm.org/org/kijabe-forest-trust · Updated 2026-11-08 · Data license: CC BY 4.0 (https://treerm.org/about#license)

## Facts

- Type: Nonprofit
- Scope: Local
- Headquarters: Kijabe, Kiambu County, Kenya
- Founded: 2013
- Website: https://kijabeforest.org
- Donate: https://kijabeforest.org/take-action
- Countries where they plant: Kenya
- Activity types: Reforestation (primary), Nurseries & seedlings, Seed collection, Research & monitoring
- Trees on record: 300,000 (larger of latest cumulative figure and sum of annual figures; trees planted or distributed)

## About

The Kijabe Forest Trust is a community-based conservation organization registered in 2013 to secure and restore the Kijabe Forest, a roughly 5,000-6,000 hectare indigenous forest reserve on the Rift Valley escarpment that supplies water to about 300,000 people. It employs a team of about two dozen community forest rangers who patrol with Kenya Forest Service, runs seed collection and community tree nurseries, and replants degraded areas with indigenous seedlings. The Trust reports more than 300,000 indigenous seedlings planted and a fall in illegal tree harvesting from over 13,000 trees a year to fewer than 300.

## Programs

- **Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded areas** — Reforestation: Plants indigenous seedlings in the roughly 1,800 hectares (about a third) of Kijabe Forest that is degraded. https://kijabeforest.org/what-we-do
- **Seed collection and tree nurseries** — Nurseries & seedlings: Collects indigenous seed and raises seedlings with local communities for forest restoration. https://kijabeforest.org/what-we-do
- **Forest protection** — Research & monitoring (2017–present): A 23-24 member community ranger team patrols the forest daily with Kenya Forest Service rangers, removing snares and deterring illegal logging and charcoal burning. https://kijabeforest.org/what-we-do

## Metrics

> Note: The Kijabe Forest Trust publishes no annual report; its 300,000-seedling figure is an undated cumulative claim on its website, and the 120 hectares restored in 2025 comes from the project page of its Canadian funder Biome Conservation. The Trust's website gives the forest reserve as about 6,000 hectares on its home page and 5,000 hectares on its 'What we do' page.

| Metric | Year | Value | Cumulative | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---:|---|---|---|---|
| Hectares restored | 2025 | 120 | no (that year) | Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded areas | Self-reported | [source](https://biomeconservation.org/project/kenya-kijabe-forest/) Biome Conservation (funder, formerly ICFC) project page, 2025 highlights: 'KFT planted indigenous tree seedlings in the degraded areas of the forest, restoring close to 120 hectares' |
| Trees planted | 2026 | 300,000 | yes (to date) | Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded areas | Self-reported | [source](https://kijabeforest.org/what-we-do) 'What we do' page (undated, viewed November 2026): 'KFT has a successful track record in restoration activities, having planted more than 300,000 indigenous seedlings in highly degraded sites' |

Confidence: self-reported is the organization's own published figure; independently verified means a third party confirmed it; estimated means TreeRM derived it and the note says how.

## Links

- facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kijabeforest

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