Sustainable Urban Forest Conservation: Assessing Public Attitudes towards Urban Forests in Nairobi City

Abstract

Nairobi city’s rapid development has caused urban tree cover loss despite evidence of demand, and values attached to these forests by the residents. This paper investigated these values through an analysis of the residents’ attitudes towards the urban forests. Data on urban forest characteristics, composition, problems, causes, and proposed solutions were collected through open ended questions and attitudinal values using a 7-point Likert psychometric scale questionnaire with 40 attitude statements. The findings on urban forest character, problems, causes, and solutions were ranked in order of popularity while attitudes were subjected to a Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis which ranked them in order of importance. The factor “Trees make the city beautiful” ranked as the most important variable (RII = 0.9457), followed by “Urban forests protect the city against climate change effects” (RII = 0.9228). The variable “Forests in the city should be cleared to provide more land for housing” factor was ranked as the lowest (RII = 0.2069). The study recommends that Nairobi’s urban forest conservation strategies recognize and prioritize resident’s values through participatory conservation strategies. In addition, adoption of the identified proposals, improvements and suggestions in the order tabulated in this paper will promote forest conservation.