The Politics of Environmental Conservation in Africa: Exploring the Intricate Interplay Between Ecological Disruption and Kenyan Politics

References

[1] Agyeman, J., Bullard, R. D., & Evans, B. (2003). Just sustainabilities: Development in an unequal world. Earthscan.

[2] Blaikie, P., & Brookfield, H. (1987). Land degradation and society. Methuen.

[3] Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.

[4] Elkins, C. (2005). Imperial reckoning: The untold story of Britain’s gulag in Kenya. Henry Holt.

[5] Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth (C. Farrington, Trans.). Grove Press.

[6] Government of Kenya. (2009). Report of the task force on the conservation of the Mau forests complex. Government Printer.

[7] Human Rights Watch. (2010). Evictions and displacement in the Mau Forest Complex. Human Rights Watch.

[8] Human Rights Watch. (2019). A dirty investment: European support for a carbon offset project linked to abuses in Uganda. Human Rights Watch.

[9] Kanyinga, K. (2009). The legacy of the White Highlands: Land rights, ethnicity and the post- 2007 election violence in Kenya. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 27(3), 325– 344. https://

[10] Kenya Forest Service. (2020). State of Kenya’s forests report 2020. Kenya Forest Service.

[11] Klopp, J. M. (2012). Deforestation and democratization: Patronage, politics and forests in Kenya. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 6(2), 351 –370. https:// 5

[12] Leys, C. (1975). Underdevelopment in Kenya: The political economy of neo-colonialism. Heinemann.

[13] Maathai, W. (2006). Unbowed: A memoir. Alfred A. Knopf.

[14] Mamdani, M. (1996). Citizen and subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism. Princeton University Press.

[15] Mbembe, A. (2001). On the postcolony. University of California Press.

[16] Muthoni, L. (2010). Gender, environment and politics in Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed. African Literature Today, 28(1), 45–62.

[17] Neumann, R. P. (2005). Making political ecology. Hodder Arnold.

[18] Nyangena, W. (2011). The political economy of forest management in Kenya: Evidence from the Mau Forest. African Development Review, 23(4), 404 –416. https:// 8268.2011.00298.x

[19] Nyong’o, A. (2015). Democracy and the environment: Wangari Maathai’s political thought. African Affairs, 114(455), 213–230. https://

[20] Ogude, J. (2011). Narrating the nation: Post- colonial Kenya in Maathai’s Unbowed. Research in African Literatures, 42(2), 27–44. https://

[21] Ojwang, D. (2010). Reading politics in the Mau Forest controversy. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 22(1), 67 –81. https:// 5

[22] Peet, R., & Watts, M. (2004). Liberation ecologies: Environment, development, social movements (2nd ed.). Routledge.

[23] Rocheleau, D., Thomas-Slayter, B., & Wangari, E. (Eds.). (1996). Feminist political ecology: Global issues and local experience. Routledge.

[24] Thaxton, M. (2015). Political ecology and forest governance in East Africa. Global Environmental Politics, 15(2), 18–36. https://

[25] United Nations Environment Programme. (2006). The Green Belt Movement: Twenty years of achievements. UNEP.

[26] Wanjiku, C. (2014). Urban forests and civic activism: Lessons from Karura. Nairobi Law Monthly, 5(3), 14–21.

@article{1717963,
      author = {Dennis Wabuyaka Waswa},
      title = {The Politics of Environmental Conservation in Africa: Exploring the Intricate Interplay Between Ecological Disruption and Kenyan Politics},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2026},
      volume = {9},
      number = {11},
      pages = {3104-3111},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1717963.pdf},
      abstract = {This paper explores the nexus between ecological disruption and politics in the Kenyan context as depicted in Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed: A Memoir and the politics surrounding forest conservation in Kenya. Unbowed, set in post-colonial Kenya, serves as a lens through which to examine the politics of environmental conservation and their impact on society and identity. Through Maathai’s narrative and other discourses surrounding ecological conservation efforts in Kenya, this paper examines the themes of resilience, power dynamics, exploitation, and political manoeuvering as portrayed in the politics of the Karura and Mau forests. By analysing ecological disruption as a catalyst for political manoeuvering and identity construction, the paper sheds light on the enduring legacy of colonialism and the resilience of human communities in the face of environmental change, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between ecology, politics, and society in post-colonial Kenya. The paper invites readers to contemplate the complex dynamics shaping post-colonial societies with respect to environment and politics, serving as a reminder of the enduring impact of environmental change on human experience.},
      keywords = {Environmental Conservation, Post-Colonial Kenya, Wangari Maathai, Karura Forest, Mau Forest, Ecological Disruption, Political Ecology, Green Belt Movement},
      month = {May},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I11-1717963}
  }