Description

Abstract: This paper reports on an experimental process underway in the River Njoro Watershed in Kenya to engage riparian communities, other local stakeholders, and government policy-makers in a dialogue to develop a riparian management plan. The process is part of the Sustainable Management of Watersheds Project (SUMAWA-CRSP), a multidisciplinary applied research effort established in 2002. The River Njoro’s riparian zone is a common pool resource that supports critical downstream watershed services and provides valued resources to its poorer communities. However, its survival is threatened by the incompatibility between communal regulatory mechanisms, tribal norms and mechanisms of statutory enforcement, and between national laws and institutional arrangements in Kenya. The ensuing free access lawless mentality has lead to resource degradation and subsequent decline in riparian services such as water quality and flood protection. A contributing cause is the absence of any institutional structure to harmonize conflicting government laws and policies on land, water, and forest resources on the ground.