Author(s)

Musingo T. E. Mbuvi^1*, Leila Ndalilo¹, Aden Hussein²

¹Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Coast Eco Region Research Programme, Malindi, Kenya.
²Manager Kipepeo Project, National Museums of Kenya, Gede, Kenya.

Efforts to manage forests continue to be enhanced equally as emergence of investments in community livelihoods whose benefits are inequitable. Lit-erature review, focus group discussion and key informant interviews showed that Arabuko Sokoke Forest has been managed under different management regimes; stakeholders have increased from singular to multiple with each stakeholder’s interests hinged on different conservation theories and ethical principles, despite that well-meaning facilitation, laws and policies, unsustainable and un-ethical scenarios abound. Extreme scenarios of a poor mother being denied firewood for lighting, warming and cooking food in order to conserve biodiversity. These are both right and wrong, a fluidity requiring situation specific sustainability and ethical justification. A discourse guided by the sustainable development goals provides a mechanism for moderating the diverse interests and helps bring harmony and synergies among all stakeholders for the common good without compromising the ecological functions of the forests thus ensuring sustainability.

Forest, Equitable, Livelihoods, Sustainability and Ethics

Mbuvi, M. , Ndalilo, L. and Hussein, A. (2018) Applying Sustainability and Ethics in Forest Management and Community Livelihoods: A Case Study from Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Kenya. Open Journal of Forestry, 8, 532-552. doi: 10.4236/ojf.2018.84033.