Community perceptions on wildfires in Mount Kenya forest: implications for fire preparedness and community wildfire management

Abstract

BackgroundNatural ecosystems provide beneficial goods and services to adjacent communities. However, these benefits also come with societal risks, among them wildfires. Kenyan ecosystems have faced increased wildfire risk due to human activities and a warming earth that causes dangerous fire weather conditions. Mount Kenya is one such ecosystem that experiences annual fires; however, there is limited information on the level of knowledge or preparedness of the local community towards wildfires and fire management across the entire ecosystem. Here, we used questionnaires and interviews to randomly and purposively survey 55 respondents across 11 villages that surround Mt Kenya forest, majority of whom were Community Forest Association (CFA) members. We investigated the perceived extent to which the communities contribute to wildfires; their opinions on some aspects of fire management; and what individual and collective actions are required to improve fire preparedness.ResultsThe most perceived causes of wildfires were honey harvesting (56%) and poaching (40%). A minority of the respondents (35%) were aware of the belief that setting forests on fire brings about rainfall, with 56% of that group reporting that the belief contributed to wildfire ignitions by a large extent. This scientifically inconclusive belief was not specific to certain tribes around Mt Kenya, as previously expected. The community strongly rejected the use of prescribed burning in fire management. They were against clearing of forest or farm debris to reduce fuel hazards, and preferred converting debris into compost.ConclusionsTo improve fire preparedness, firefighting training, resourcing, firebreak creation, and sharing of wildfire warnings with the local community need to be enhanced. Despite limited community involvement in fire-management decisions, we recommend a greater involvement of the local community in forest and/or fire management to promote ownership and sustainability.