Eunice Kioi

A Kenyan environmental activist instrumental in reviving community-led reforestation efforts in the 1990s

Eunice Kioi (born 1965) emerged as a pivotal figure in Kenya's environmental conservation movement during the late 20th century. Her work with the Green Belt Movement, founded by the late Wangari Maathai, marked a turning point in community-driven environmental stewardship. While often overshadowed by her mentor, Kioi's innovative approach to integrating tree planting with microfinance programs created sustainable livelihoods for rural women. In 1995, she pioneered the 'Tree Banking' concept where participants could exchange saplings for microloans, a model later adopted by UNDP programs. Her 1998 initiative in the arid Laikipia region transformed 5,000 acres of degraded land into thriving forests within five years, demonstrated through this case study. Kioi's advocacy led to the 2004 national policy change mandating tree planting in all agricultural land-use plans. Her TEDx talk The Forest in Our Hands remains a foundational text in community forestry studies. Recent collaborations with NASA's Earth Observation team have expanded her work into climate change mitigation strategies documented here NASA's Global Ecological Partnerships.