Deforestation and democratization: patronage, politics and forests in Kenya

Current approaches for halting and reversing deforestation centrally involve better “environmental governance” over forests. Better public oversight and regulation of the forest commons is thus linked to democratization. Yet evidence suggests that in a number of important cases, democratization can accelerate deforestation. Using the cases of South Nandi and Karura Forests in Kenya, this article argues that to understand why requires more careful examination of how forests are incorporated into patronage networks and how these networks are impacted by democratization struggles. Specifically, this article argues that accelerated deforestation occurs when institutional configurations allow abuse and create opportunity for forests to become incorporated into patronage networks. Democratization can then exacerbate deforestation when, as in Kenya, more competitive elections produce stresses on these patronage networks and hence create incentives for state actors to increase accumulation of forest resources for political purposes. Further, the overall volatility of democratization struggles, which makes changes in government more likely, creates incentives for those with privileged access to forests to accumulate more rapidly with no concern for sustainability in the long run. However, such forest encroachments may also generate resistance and movements aimed at re-imposing regulation on the use of the forest. When successful, these struggles over forests can both deepen democratization and transform institutional configurations to better protect forests.