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sinks and help in reducing global warming. They are also educated on the
role of forests in protecting water catchment so that rivers and streams do not
dry up even in the face of climate change. In this way, human encroachment
into the forest and Mount Kenya National Park is reduced (Bussmann 1996).
Development of carbon sinks
Forest ecosystems have natural mitigation processes such as carbon
sequestration. Worldwide, there is a large and growing interest in carbon
sequestration as a method of combating climate change. This involves
the establishment of new forests or the management of existing ones as
carbon sinks (Earth Watch Institute 2011). On the slopes of Mt. Kenya, a
reforestation project to sequester carbon with community development
activities has been established. This is known as the Meru and Nanyuki
Community Reforestation Project. It combines hundreds of individual tree
planting activities and enables local communities to improve access to
food and create additional sources of income beyond subsistence farming.
The project has over eight thousand members. It enables members who
are small scale farmers, to plant trees on their land. The farmers receive
annual payments for each planted tree and additionally will, in the future,
collect revenues as the trees grow and sequester carbon. The project also
aims at reducing soil erosion, protecting water catchment and enhancing
biodiversity (Carbon Neutral Company 2011).
Conclusion
Mt. Kenya like other mountains of the world represents a unique area for
the early detection of climate change and the assessment of climate-related
impacts. Yet, mountains did not attract a lot of international attention until
after the 1992 Rio Summit. In the face of global change mountains around
the world have become a focal point of international agenda. One major
issue of concern is the sustainability of mountain tourism due to climate
change. Tourism on Mt. Kenya is no exception. It can be developed as a
way of diversifying the tourism sector which, for a long time has been
dominated by wildlife and beach tourism. But, beach and wildlife tourism
may become less signifi cant in the face of global change.
Tourism on Mt. Kenya if well planned and managed, can generate
local employment and confer other benefi ts to the local communities. On
Mt. Kenya, some of the major environmental impacts identifi ed include
trail creation, littering and trampling of vegetation. Trail creation is highly
destructive to the fragile afro-alpine biodiversity. In adapting to climate
change the local communities living on the slopes of Mt. Kenya like those
in other mountain areas of the world, face daunting challenges due to
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