Restore forests to build economies

This year’s theme on “Forests and Economies” could not be more urgent or more personal for Kenya. We have, after all, a 15 billion tree campaign that requires not only planting sites but quality planting material.

At the heart of Kenya’s forest economy must be a community-led forest movement that takes advantage of the restoration opportunity (15 billion trees) to create green jobs and improve livelihoods, especially for women and youth.

Healthy forests are the very foundation of sustainable development; they generate jobs, lift communities out of poverty, and build the kind of resilient, long-term prosperity that no extractive industry can ever match.

And yet, Kenya is losing forests faster than most of us dare to acknowledge. Degraded forests mean degraded soils, failed harvests, dried rivers, and displaced communities. The communities who depend most directly on forests for food, for income, for identity are the first to suffer when they disappear.

The restoration economy is a growing movement that turns degraded land into productive ecosystems. It creates jobs, strengthens food security, restores water catchments, and returns natural wealth to communities. It is one of the smartest investments Kenya can make.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the forest sector contributes more than $1.5 trillion to national economies globally. It has created 33.3 million jobs globally as well, both formal and informal.

Yet even these figures only scratch the surface of what forests truly mean economically. Across Africa, forests are the backbone of daily life for millions of people particularly in rural communities where they provide food, fuel, medicine and income.

They sustain water systems, support agriculture, and quietly hold together the ecological balance that prop up economies. In Kenya, where agriculture accounts for about 20 per cent of GDP, forests play a critical supporting role.

Globally, forest loss remains severe. The Forest Declaration Assessment 2025 reports that 8.1 million hectares were lost in 2024 — 63 per cent above the level needed to halt deforestation by 2030. Africa alone loses nearly 3 million hectares annually.

The effects of forest loss to our economies are fast and devastating, especially where forest loss leads to the lack of their disaster mitigation capabilities.

For the past two weeks, we have been dealing with the consequences of flooding in Kenya, especially in Nairobi, with lives lost and livelihoods disrupted. The economic costs of floods can easily run into the millions especially where business centres and places of work are submerged underwater. What we are witnessing today is a stark reminder that the health of our forests directly impacts the resilience of our economies. Forests mitigate floods because they are natural buffers.

They absorb rainfall, slow down runoff, anchor soils and regulate water flow. When forests are intact, they significantly reduce the intensity of floods.

In turn, we are able to safeguard our economies and livelihoods. When forests are degraded or cleared, rainwater moves faster and more forcefully, overwhelming rivers and drainage systems.

As Kenyans, this World Forest Day, let’s commit to fight relentlessly to protect and restore our forests.

First, we must defend every hectare we still have. Not negotiate it away or trade it for short-term gain.

Protect it. Because every ancient tree standing is a water tower, a carbon sink, a pharmacy, and a pay check for a family that depends on it. But protection alone is not enough. We must also be bold enough to restore what we have lost.

The world is beginning to wake up to this truth as well. Last April, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2027–2036 the UN Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation (a global call to arms for governments to reverse centuries of destruction). Closer to home, AFR100, a country-led initiative across Africa, initiated by AU NEPAD and catalysed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) through movements like Restore Local, is mobilising African nations to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land across our continent.

And this is what restoration really means. It is not simply planting trees. It is building a new economy from the ground up, communities raising millions of indigenous trees for planting in forests, scientists mapping biodiversity in recovering forests, and foresters managing restored landscapes with pride and expertise. Restoration is about jobs and innovation.

This is the future that “Forests and Economies” invites us to imagine. One where forests are seen as pillars to our economic advancement and not impediments to it. Forests are our first line of defence against climate change and an uncertain future but they are also engines of inclusive growth and well-being.

Happy World Forest Day!

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Ms Mathai is MD for Africa & Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute and Chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation.