Karura Forest

[3] Karura Forest is 1,041 hectares (2,570 acres) consisting of three parts separated by Limuru and Kiambu roads.

Conservationists, led by Wangari Maathai, the leader of Green Belt Movement who later became a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, carried out a much publicised campaign for saving the forest.

[9] Wildlife in the forest include Monkey species (including recently re-introduced Colobus Monkeys), bush baby, bushbuck, bush pig, porcupine, duiker, genet, dik dik, African civet and East African epauletted fruit bat.

[18] Klaus Töpfer, the executive director of UNEP, warned that the organisation may move its headquarters out of Kenya if the forest faces destruction.

[20] Minister for Natural Resources Francis Lotodo defended the projects in January 1999 stating that Nairobi as a growing city needed space for development.

[22] Opposition MP's James Orengo (Ford-Kenya), David Mwenje (DP) and Njehu Gatabaki (SDP) were charged in court for attending student protests.

In 2003 the Minister of Environment Newton Kulundu denied the American investor Raymond Chisholm a permit to construct a hotel in the forest.

This plan was also opposed by Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement, who stated that the NEMA should be protecting, not destructing the forest.

[30] At one point, said Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Head of the Nairobi Conservancy, Charity Munyasia, they were discovering one dead body there per fortnight, on average.

[31] With efforts that began in 2009 to fence the forest and restore safety, Karura has become a popular walking, cycling, and jogging destination for Nairobi residents, and increasingly also for tourists.

Between April and July 2009 FKF-CFA office-bearers completed the required vetting processes with the Criminal Investigation Division and Registrar of Societies.

On 1 October 2009 the Registrar of Societies signed the Certificate of Registration for the Friends of Karura Community Forest Association.

The nascent and unique parastatal-stakeholder partnership took its first major management decision on 25 Feb 2010 when FKS and FKF signed an MOU concerning installation and operation of an electric fence to fully secure the forest perimeter.

Prof. Karanja Njoroge, who had served as Wangari Maathai's deputy at the GreenBelt Movement, was elected to chairmanship of FKF.

Thus, in only five years, the FKF Community Forest Association in partnership with the Kenya Forest Service and Kenyan corporate and private donors, fenced, secured and transformed Karura "from the dumping site for hijackers and murderers and illegal private developers"[34][35][36][37] into a popular local recreation and conservation site.

Website: http://www.friendsofkarura.org Karura Forest is now developed as a visitor's attraction for both local and international, with more than 16,000 entries per month.

[43] The Karura Forest Environmental Education Trust (KFEET) was formed in 2010, and launched by then Minister for Forestry and Wildlife Noah Wekesa.

[26] KFEET manages an environmental education centre located in Karura Forest and facilitating access to thousands of Kenyan school children.