Ngong Road Forest, for many years, has carried a reputation that had little to do with the trees. For communities living around it, the forest was associated with insecurity, illegal dumping, uncontrolled grazing and, in the most disturbing cases, crime.
Today, that narrative is beginning to change but the process has not been easy and cheap.
Deep inside the forest, the difference is visible in the regeneration of indigenous trees, the return of a sense of security and the growing number of people using the space to walk, run, birdwatch, reconnect with nature or simply sit quietly beneath the trees.
More than Sh160 million investment by I&M Foundation to fence the Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary is right the heart of that transformation. That timely intervention has provided a physical barrier around the forest while creating the conditions for a broader conservation and community-management effort.
For Simon Kage, chairman of the Ngong Road Forest Association, the change is as much psychological as it is physical.
“Before then, they used to say, ‘That is the forest where people are killed.’ Now they say, ‘This is our forest.’”
That significant transformation, he says, may ultimately be one of the project’s most important outcomes.
More Than Securing Trees
The Sanctuary Block, one of five sections of the Ngong Road Forest Station, covers about 695 hectares. For years, its proximity to densely populated neighbourhoods has posed a significant conservation challenge.
People used the forest for legitimate purposes, including collecting firewood and keeping bees, but the absence of adequate security also opened the space to illegal activities. There were cases of illegal dumping, uncontrolled livestock grazing, tree cutting and criminal activity.
According to Kage, criminals could use the forest as a hiding place after committing offences outside, while visitors could also become targets. The fencing changed that equation.
“By virtue of the forest being fenced, a number of challenges have been addressed: insecurity. So now the forest is very secure.”
Kage says that since June last year, the forest has recorded no insecurity incidents, while cases of dumping and other harmful activities have also stopped completely. More importantly, the forest has begun the long process of healing.
“The forest now has started regeneration. The trees are coming up, they are regenerating, and the mature trees now are firmly protected.”
That protection is particularly significant for indigenous species under pressure from illegal harvesting. Kage singles out Dracaena Orientalis, an indigenous tree that is valuable in the carving industry and had become a target for young people looking to make quick money.
“That was the biggest threat, and it is endemic to this forest. Now that has stopped.”
In that sense, the fence is not simply infrastructure. It has become a first line of defence for an ecosystem that had been increasingly vulnerable to human pressure.
Conservation and People
However, I&M Foundation’s intervention has not been about simply putting up a barrier and walking away. The model increasingly places the community at the centre of conservation.
The Ngong Road Forest Association has 365 members drawn from forest-adjacent communities, organised into nine user groups. There are women who collect firewood, beekeepers who produce and sell honey, groups running tree nurseries, cultural groups preserving indigenous knowledge, religious users and teams involved in recreation and ecotourism.
That approach reflects a simple principle: conservation is more likely to succeed when the people living alongside a forest have a stake in its survival.
“We are conserving the forest not for our direct use, but for the good of our country, the good of Nairobi, and the good of the world.”
Kage describes the model as non-consumptive use that allows people to benefit from the forest without destroying it. The relationship between the community and Kenya Forest Service (KFS), which retains the mandate for forest protection, has also improved greatly.
I&M Foundation’s intervention included support for water and rehabilitation activities as well as housing for KFS rangers. The Foundation has also funded scouts for an initial six months, while the association works on mechanisms to sustain their allowances.
For Kage, that is what makes the project sustainable beyond the physical infrastructure.
“We have put in mechanisms as a community… on how we are going to continue paying their monthly allowances and all that.”
Nairobi’s Wellness Generation
Perhaps the most compelling opportunity emerging from the restoration is one that goes beyond conservation: It is wellness. As Nairobians increasingly look for spaces to run, walk, disconnect from screens and reconnect with nature, the Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary Block offers an alternative to the city’s better-known green spaces, including Karura Forest.
And Kage believes many Nairobians simply do not know what is on their doorstep.
“This forest where we are, the Sanctuary Block, is better in terms of size, biodiversity, and other facilities than Karura. It’s only that it is not known.”
The forest has marked trails ranging from a 2km to 3km family trail to 5km and 10km routes, with a 21km trail under development as the it looks towards hosting a half marathon. Visitors can walk, jog or run individually, with friends or as families.
Scouts are available along the trails to provide guidance. There are also spaces for picnics, camping, meditation and quiet relaxation.
For those who want something more immersive, the forest offers an abundance of nature. The Sanctuary Block is home to more than 285 bird species, while visitors can encounter primates, dik-diks, tree hyraxes and other wildlife.
The forest’s proximity to Nairobi National Park also means larger predators occasionally move through the broader ecosystem. There are guides for visitors interested in identifying trees, while schools use the forest for ecology and biology lessons.
And then there is the less tangible benefit.
“Forest has a healing impact, a positive healing impact. You come in annoyed, getting to the forest, come out refreshed… and all the annoyance and the bad feelings and the bad thoughts disappear.”
It is a powerful proposition in a city where wellness is increasingly becoming part of everyday life: you do not necessarily need to leave Nairobi to find nature.
Ngong Road Forest & Community Economy
The next phase is to make that relationship economically sustainable. Visitors currently pay Sh166, of which Sh116 goes to the government while Sh50 goes back to the community to support activities such as trail and fence maintenance, scouts and other conservation work.
The community association is also exploring additional income-generating activities. Plans include a cafeteria where visitors can buy coffee, tea and snacks after using the forest, while beekeeping groups are being supported to acquire processing equipment that could allow them to move further up the honey value chain.
The objective is to create economic value from protecting the forest rather than destroying it. That is also why Kage talks about conservation in three connected terms: protection, conservation and sustainable utilisation.
“As we do conservation, we are also protecting, and we are also doing what we call sustainable utilization.”
The community of conservators is also looking beyond the Sanctuary Block, with an ambition to see the wider Oloolua forest ecosystem secured.
Measured Milestone
For Kage, who is in his fourth year as the chairman of the Ngong Road Forest Association, the transformation represents the fulfilment of a plan that once existed largely on paper.
The association developed a five-year management plan and within its first year, he reveals gleefully, the scale of progress has exceeded expectations.
“For me, this is a milestone of achievement as a chair and as the management committee of the CFA.”
But ultimately, he says, the achievement belongs to the people who live alongside the forest. Because the most important change cannot be measured simply in kilometres of fencing, hectares protected or millions of shillings invested.
It is measured in ownership. A community that once looked at the forest with fear is beginning to see it as an asset.
A young person who might once have cut down an indigenous tree can instead find an opportunity in beekeeping, ecotourism or conservation. A Nairobi runner can trade the roadside for a forest trail.
A family can spend a morning walking beneath indigenous trees. A child can learn biology not from a textbook but from the ecosystem itself.
And a damaged forest can be given the space and security to regenerate.
“This is our forest.”
Those four words perhaps capture the real return on I&M Foundation’s more than Sh160 million investment.
The fence may be made of poles and wire but its most enduring impact could be something far less tangible: restoring a sense of belonging between Nairobi and one of its most important remaining urban forests.
