The natural resource sector in Kenya is governed by a complex web of laws and policies that directly impact community lifestyles and livelihoods. However, many community members lack knowledge of these laws, leading to confusion, especially when different government departments enforce contradictory regulations. 

NACOFA has taken on the responsibility of informing and educating communities about the relevant laws that affect them. By doing so, NACOFA helps protect communities from unwarranted actions by government officers. An example is the development and implementation of Participatory Forest Management Plans (PFMPs) and Forest Management Agreements (FMAs). Despite these agreements being signed between KFS and various CFAs, there are instances where KFS fails to honor the commitments, making community awareness critical for accountability.

Stakeholder mapping involves reviewing the diverse interests of stakeholders across various sectors at both local and national levels. This process should be as comprehensive as possible, mapping out existing influence and power structures to determine who to engage directly or indirectly. Prior to stakeholder mapping, a thorough analysis of existing policies is conducted to fully understand the issues and why they matter to the community. This understanding then informs the stakeholder mapping activity, making it clearer who to engage with.

The first step involves identifying local environmental challenges at the community level, such as water shortages, diminishing grazing areas, food scarcity, soil erosion, landslides, or flooding. NACOFA gathers community input on possible solutions and explores the links between these challenges and forest or environmental degradation.

Next, NACOFA studies the existing laws and policies that could address these issues, identifying any gaps, or determining if enhanced implementation or enforcement is needed. This process allows NACOFA to pinpoint the responsible government institutions, key officials, CSOs, partners, and community groups to collaborate with.

During the project we have implemented several workshops including:

• Use of drones in sea turtle conservation
• Biodiversity Survey Training
• Communication in Conservation Training 
• Laws and best practices when working with sea turtles for protected areas rangers
• Best practices in sea turtle watching activities for tour operators

The tree farmers are encouraged to participate in different value chains/enterprises developed for alternative income sources rather than depending on tree and land sale cutting for income.

The communities living adjacent to the degraded Atigo and Angutawele Central Forest reserves were mobilized to participate in the restoration of parts of the forest under Collaborative Forestry Management approach in partnership with the National Forestry Authority and the community.

In Eastern Province, Zambia, a significant transformation of fishing practices in small waterbodies was achieved under the Fish for Food Security (F4F) project. This change involved reducing the use of illegal fishing gear among local fishers, aligning their activities with the FAO’s Guidelines for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.

Initially, the management of these fishing practices faced challenges, including a lack of baseline data on fish stocks and the use of harmful small-meshed nets (mosquito nets) or poison. To address these challenges, the F4F project adopted a multi-stakeholder approach, partnering with entities like the Aquatic Ecosystems Services Consultancy for fish stock assessments. Likewise, they worked on restructuring the Dam Management Committees (DMCs) in collaboration with the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Zambia Governance Foundation (ZGF), ensuring the inclusion of fisherfolk representatives.

The F4F further developed a training manual on sustain-able fisheries management of small waterbodies and rolled out the trainings to the DMCs, fisherfolk and traditional leaders with support from the Department of Fisheries (DoF). Among others the topics varied from ‘Leadership’ and ‘Financial Management’ up to ‘Fishing Practices’, which attracted a lot of discussions especially from fishers. 

Later, the community and DoF set up regulations on restricting the use of illegal fishing gear and encouraged the use of wide-meshed cotton nets. The involvement of the fisherfolk has helped curb illegal and unregulated fishing, as they understand the adverse effects on the fish stocks, the environment, and the sustainability of their business.