The National Land Policy constitutes an important first step towards integrating land tenure and land use with sustainable management of the environment. Kenya has ratified many multilateral environmental agreements and has a framework environmental law, the Environment Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) passed in 1999. This notwithstanding, tenure to land has not taken into account sustainable development imperatives. This has to be seen against Kenya’s endowment with faunal and floral diversity including forests, woodlands, swamps, grasslands, plant and animal species.  

This endowment is threatened by growth in human population and environmental degradation owing to over-cultivation, over-grazing and the clearing of forestlands. Analysis shows that land use change has been widespread and remarkable in Kenya and has affected the composition and distribution of flora and fauna. It has resulted in the loss of critical habitats and species. Additionally, the existence of multiple land tenure types and increased conversion of land from one tenure type to another without regard for environmental imperatives has resulted in loss of ecosystems and habitat for species. For instance, about 2% of Kenya’s land area is covered by closed canopy forest (1.24 million hectares) compared to the potential for 12% (6.8 million hectares) that may have been forested before human clearance began and since gazettement began in the 1900s, official registers show that more than 290,000 hectares have been withdrawn from the forest estate. 

The land policy seeks to deal with two problems with regard to land based environmental resources, namely, entitlement to resources as a consequence of land tenure and resource management responsibilities in the cause of using land. The Policy is premised on three points. One is that the country does not have an overall policy linking natural resources tenure to land tenure. Two is the absence of a national land use policy that is linked to conservation and management of land-based natural resources. Three is the limited access to some resources by the public and enclosure of public resources in private persons and entities as a consequence of the haphazard approach to land tenure and land use.