In Kenya, Eden works in the 5,000-hectare protected Kijabe Forest. The Kijabe Forest sits in a complex, dynamic landscape. About 1.5 hours from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, the forest grows on the steep edges of the Great Rift Valley. Once home to herds of buffalo, leopards, and elephants, this forest is an essential home and corridor for wildlife.

Animals use this area to move between the Rift Valley’s dry floor and the Kenyan highlands’ protected lush forests. As one of Kenya’s five nationally significant water towers, the forest channels water to the surrounding communities and country. Over the past 15 years, the forest has been cleared for charcoal and timber, reducing the number of permanent rivers flowing from eight to one.

Additionally, rains have become unreliable, catastrophic landslides have taken lives and damaged important infrastructure, and peoples’ livelihood options have suffered. Ask anyone around the forest — the impacts of deforestation are clear. Eden partners with a local forest trust, the Kijabe Forest Trust, regional and national government institutions, and the surrounding agricultural and pastoral communities to restore this crucial forest.