Effectiveness of Government Policies in Governing Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve in Kenya

The forests resources form part of the most precious natural resources as they balance the survival of the world's ecosystem. However, it is unclear how effective forest governance policies can manage participatory forest management arrangements in the current literature. Thus, the study sought to examine the effectiveness of the Kenyan government policies in governing the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Resources. The researchers purposively sampled 100 respondents from communities involved in the participatory forest management arrangement and 90 nonparticipating communities in the forest participatory management arrangement. Also, 30 key informants from heads of government agencies, namely: the Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Wildlife Service, National Museum of Kenya, Non-Governmental Organizations such as Nature Kenya, Community Based Organizations, and Leaders from the business community working the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Management, were interviewed. The analysis of the collected qualitative data from written notes and audio recordings was coded into similar themes and used to answer the study objectives. The results show that the government policies regulating the Arabuko-Sokoke forest resources are important. Therefore, it is recommended that there is a need for effective forest governance policies for sustainable forest management.