ECOSYSTEM-BASED ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN KAKAMEGA TROPICAL RAINFOREST ECOSYSTEM OF KAKAMEGA COUNTY, KENYA

Africa is threatened by climate change, yet adaptive capacity of local communities continues to be weakened by ineffective and inefficient livelihood strategies and inappropriate development interventions. Practical and good activities for adaptation in Kenya is urgently and much needed to support adaptation actions, interventions and planning. The adaptation role of forest ecosystems has not been as prominent in the international discourse and actions as their mitigation role. This study therefore focused on the forest ecosystems as one of the natural resources used for adaptation to climate change impacts. The objective of this study was to evaluate Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to climate change in Kakamega Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem. This study was descriptive and cross-sectional in design and relied on a mixed methods methodology. Anthropogenic Global Warming Theory and Adaptive Management Theory were used to guide the study. A conceptual framework showing the interrelationship between the dependent and independent variables was outlined. The study utilized both secondary and primary data. The target population was 20,000 households living up to 10 km from the forest edge in the selected communities neighbouring Kakamega Tropical Rainforest and 20 government officials within Kakamega County. A total of 184 members of the households and 20 forest officers were sampled as respondents in the study. The study findings revealed that EbA are measures which use ecosystem services to attain or support adaptation to climate change. The EbA initiatives included; policy and behavioral changes, targeted management, conservation activities, restoration of highly degraded dry forest and reducing biodiversity loss. It was concluded that forest ecosystems help to adopt or mitigate climate. The study recommended that there is need to conserve the forest to get rid of extreme temperatures and precipitation since it was a source of many services to the surrounding communities and that the forest ecosystem also helped to adapt or mitigate climate change among others.