The Land, Environmental, and Climate Justice Program in Kenya invites journalists to join an in-person media workshop on land rights and carbon in Nairobi on June 11 and 12, 2025.
This workshop is aimed at educating reporters on how communities secure and exercise their land rights, as well as the progress and challenges in the implementation of the 2016 Community Land Act, in order to support credible and dignifying reporting on land, environment, and climate in Kenya.
60% of Kenya’s landmass are community lands. It’s estimated that more than 6 million Kenyans live on community lands. Most of them are members of pastoral or other rural communities. Loss of communal lands deprives Kenya’s most vulnerable citizens — especially women, ethnic minorities, and Indigenous People — of the source of their livelihoods, culture, and identity.
The passing of the Community Land Act in 2016 marked a historic milestone for Indigenous and local communities in Kenya. The law provides a framework for the registration and legal recognition of community lands. For the first time in the country’s history, Indigenous and pastoral communities can secure legal rights to own, manage, and govern the lands and natural resources that they depend on for their livelihoods. And yet implementation has been slow.
Meanwhile, many of these same communities are being approached by carbon project developers. These projects often use forests, wetlands, and grasslands to generate carbon credits, which represent the amount of greenhouse gas kept out of the atmosphere. Carbon credits are a tool meant to fight climate change while creating income for communities. However, in practice, communities often face the same challenges they have experienced with other large land deals, such as a lack of clear information, unfair terms, and decisions made without their consent.
Namati will bring together a diverse group of subject matter experts and community representatives who will share their knowledge and first-hand experiences with participating journalists. In doing so, we aim to strengthen the capacity of local journalists to understand and report on land rights, the Community Land Act, and real-life challenges faced by communities.
The workshop will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on June 11 and 12, 2025.
Namati advances social and environmental justice by building a movement of people who know, use, and shape the law. Namati supports communities to use national land laws to protect their customary and indigenous lands. Our approach supports communities to democratize their land governance, protect the rights of vulnerable and marginalised groups, and ensure that local elites do not engage in corrupt or exploitative practices at the expense of the wider community.