Kilimani Arboretum Rd, off State House Rd, Nairobi
Changes through the years
The building of the Kenya- Uganda railway was the direct reason for the interest in forest management in Kenya
Arboretum was initially meant to be a trial site to build exotic trees, in order to supply wood for building the railway.
A large supply of wood supply was needed daily before 1952
Indigenous trees were declared slow growing and inefficient for wood growth therefore there were new exotic trees planted instead making the arboretum particularly diverse in terms of the species present.
Over time Chief Conservators of Forests made different goals, a Chief Gardner said he wanted to make a “collection of indigenous shrubs and trees”, from then on new trees were introduced each year.
Management levels of the arboretum diminished over the years due to lack of funding.
FONA, a citizen-founded group, now operates to try and enforce the importance of the arboretum.
As a result of FONA’s effort and dedication, a renovation plan was launched in the year 2003 by the PS of the Ministry of Environment and Natural resources.
Further, there was also a master developed and launched in January 200 with the aim of encouraging environmental education, recreation and scientific knowledge
Is set to include information about the involvement of NACCFA found in the Nairobi Arboretum participatory forest management plan 2020-2024
Brief Park History
Nairobi’s arboretum was founded in 1907 during colonization by Mr. Bastiscombe who was an assistant conservator for the British. He was granted 30.4 hectares of land by the British to try out new forestry trees in order to increase the yield of available trees for fuel wood to power the railway.
He purchased trees from countries all over the world such as: Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, plus included native trees as well. Hopefully these new trees would meet the daily demand for fuelwood that was present until 1952, after which the demands were met by diesel.
Over time foresters noted patterns in the growth rate of different species etc, which made them tailor their purchasing of seeds for their specific purpose of producing the most amount of wood in the shortest periods of time.
They started importing more exotic fast-growing trees and lessened their purchases for indigenous trees that tend to be slow growing. The difficulty they initially faced was whether these exotic trees would be able to thrive in Kenya, as the conditions are usually described as “dry, stony, grass-covered slope with a few scattered flat-topped trees”.
Basticombe passed on responsibility to HM Gardner in 1928. During Gardner’s time, things stayed pretty similar to how they were initially, he introduced new trees to the Arboretum every year following his policy to “making as a complete collection as possible of indigenous shrubs and trees”.
However, there was a major change during his management period was that the Arboretum became gazetted as a Forest Reserve in 1932. After Independence, management of the arboretum declined during the 1970’s by the forest department.
This neglect was caused by an inadequate amount of government funding at the time. The reestablishment of management conditions in the arboretum was in 1993 by a CSO named FONA “friends of the Nairobi Arboretum '' which helped get the area back on its feet.
A master plan was launched by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry Environment and Natural Resources during 2000 in order to upgrade the Arboretum. The initiative of the plan was to promote environmental education, recreation, and scientific knowledge. The work by FONA combined with KFS has modified the use of the Arboretum in order to be more sustainable and educational.
