What should you plant, and where?
That is the question KEFRI has been answering since 1934. Whether you're a smallholder farmer adding trees to your land, a community group restoring degraded hillsides, or a commercial grower establishing a new plantation — KEFRI has the species knowledge, the county-specific guidance, and the practical tools to help you get it right.
KEFRIApp — Species-Site Matching
Tell KEFRIApp your county, your land type, your rainfall zone, and what you want to grow. The tool searches KEFRI's database of 380+ species and returns ranked recommendations — with full planting guides, management notes, seed sources, and related research for each.
Find species for your land
Open KEFRIApp. Enter your county, land type, rainfall zone, and what you want to achieve — timber income, shade, erosion control, fuelwood, carbon, or fruit. The tool returns species ranked by how well they fit your specific site. Not generic lists. Site-specific recommendations from KEFRI's field research.
Open KEFRIAppLearn everything about your species
Click any recommended species to open its full profile. You'll find: optimal planting sites and spacing, management calendar, expected growth rates, pest and disease watch-list, harvest guidance, and what your timber or product is worth. Every profile is grounded in KEFRI's published research.
Browse species profilesDownload your planting guide
Every species profile links to a downloadable planting guide — a practical, field-ready document you can use without internet access. Guides cover everything from seed treatment and nursery management to spacing, weeding schedules, and first thinning.
Access planting guidesFind certified seed sources
The Seed Source Directory lists certified suppliers for each species, organised by county. Where KEFRI's own seed stands exist, you'll find direct access pathways. Certified seed from quality sources dramatically improves survival and growth rates.
Seed source directoryGet expert guidance when you need it
KEFRI has six regional research centres across Kenya's ecological zones. Each centre has scientists and extension staff who understand local conditions. Use the platform to find your nearest centre and contact the right person for your specific challenge.
Contact a KEFRI expertScientific rigour for your restoration programme
Your programme's credibility rests on its ecological soundness. KEFRI provides the scientific evidence, species guidance, and formal technical validation that makes your restoration methodology defensible — to funders, to government, and to the communities you serve.
KEFRI Technical Validation & Endorsement
KEFRI's scientists formally review your restoration methodology — species selection, site assessment approach, monitoring indicators, and ecological rationale. Programmes that pass receive the KEFRI Technical Endorsement, a credential recognised by major funders and the Kenyan government as evidence of scientific soundness.
Design your programme with the Restoration Planner
Input your programme geography, ecosystem type, restoration goals, and constraints. The Restoration Planner returns a scientifically grounded species mix with ecological rationale, planting guidance, monitoring indicators, and links to KEFRI's research evidence for your specific context.
Open the Restoration PlannerAccess the evidence base for your methodology
Search KEFRI's publications repository for research in your programme geography — by county, ecosystem, species, and restoration challenge. Download peer-reviewed evidence to support your methodology documentation for funder reporting and technical review.
Search publicationsRequest KEFRI Technical Validation
Submit your programme methodology for KEFRI's formal scientific review. KEFRI scientists assess species selection, ecological appropriateness, site matching, and monitoring approach. Validated programmes receive written endorsement that can be shared with funders, governments, and carbon project verifiers.
Learn about validationFormalise a KEFRI technical partnership
For large or long-term programmes, formalise KEFRI's involvement through a Memorandum of Understanding. KEFRI's regional centres can provide ongoing field support, monitoring expertise, and scientific oversight across your programme's lifetime.
Explore NGO partnershipsThe science behind your county forest strategy
Kenya's commitment to 30% forest cover requires every county to contribute. KEFRI provides the county-specific ecological data, species recommendations, policy evidence, and on-the-ground technical capacity that county forest officers and directors of environment need to design and implement credible forest strategies.
Access your county forest profile
Every county has a dedicated profile: dominant ecosystems, recommended species ranked by suitability, forest cover estimates, key threats, relevant KEFRI research publications, and the contact for the nearest KEFRI regional centre. Download the full profile PDF for use in strategy documents.
View county profilesBuild your evidence base from the policy brief library
KEFRI's policy brief library translates research findings into accessible evidence for government decision-making. Briefs cover forest cover targets, community forest governance, county-level tenure, species for public land restoration, and PELIS programme evidence — all relevant to county strategy development.
Policy brief libraryRequest KEFRI technical assistance
KEFRI provides dedicated technical assistance to county governments — species selection support, programme design review, forest inventory guidance, monitoring protocol development, and technical input into county integrated development plans. Formalise the relationship through a KEFRI–County MOU.
Request assistanceConnect with your regional KEFRI centre
Each KEFRI regional centre has a designated county liaison function. Scientists at Muguga, Gede, Kitui, Londiani, and Maseno understand local conditions and can provide ongoing technical support for county forest officers and programme managers.
Find your regional centreNearly a century of Kenyan forestry data — searchable and accessible
KEFRI's research archive spans from 1934 to the present — publications, field trial data, provenance records, biodiversity collections, and long-term ecological monitoring datasets. If you study Kenya's forests, KEFRI's data infrastructure is where your research begins.
Search the publications repository
Search by species, ecosystem, research theme, county, author, or keyword. Filter by publication type, date range, and geographic coverage. Full-text download available for open-access publications. Metadata and abstracts for all records.
Search publicationsAccess the biodiversity collections
KEFRI's natural history collection contains over 180,000 herbarium, insect, and invertebrate records from Kenya's forest ecosystems — one of the largest such collections in Eastern Africa. Records are accessible through GBIF and through KEFRI's Biodiversity Collections Portal.
Explore the collectionsContact a KEFRI scientist
The Scientist Directory lists KEFRI's researchers with their expertise, publications, research programmes, and centre affiliations. Find the right person for your collaboration, field access request, or data inquiry — and contact them directly through the platform.
Scientist directorySubmit a collaboration proposal or apply for field access
KEFRI's research collaboration framework supports joint publications, shared field stations, data access agreements, postgraduate supervision, and international research partnerships. Submit a proposal through the Research Collaboration service pathway.
Research collaboration serviceOpen-access publications are available for full-text download without registration. Some older publications and those under commercial licensing agreements require a data access request. All records have metadata and abstracts freely accessible. Contact the publications team if you cannot find what you need.
Field station access is available through KEFRI's Research Collaboration service. Submit a proposal describing your research objectives, the station you require access to, the duration, and any data you will share with KEFRI. Applications are reviewed by the relevant research programme lead. Access is typically granted through a formal agreement.
Yes. KEFRI's natural history collections are published through GBIF and accessible via the Biodiversity Collections Portal on this platform. Records include herbarium specimens, insect and invertebrate collections, and forest ecosystem records from across Kenya and Eastern Africa. For physical specimen access or to request high-resolution images, contact the relevant research centre directly.
KEFRI scientists co-supervise postgraduate students in collaboration with Kenyan and international universities. If you are a student looking for a co-supervisor with specific forestry expertise, contact the relevant scientist directly through the Scientist Directory. If you are a university department seeking a joint supervision agreement, use the University Partnership pathway.
Technical data and testing services for Kenya's forest products sector
KEFRI's National Forest Products Research Centre at Karura is Kenya's primary institution for timber science and forest product testing. Whether you need species productivity data for plantation planning, timber strength testing for construction certification, or technical guidance on processing and utilisation — KEFRI is the authoritative source.
Search the Wood Properties Database
The Wood Properties Database covers 180+ commercially relevant species with physical and mechanical property data — density, strength class, durability, shrinkage, workability, and suitability for specific applications. Search by species, property requirement, or end-use application.
Wood properties databaseAccess commercial species productivity data
For plantation investment decisions, KEFRI's species profiles include long-term productivity data from field trials — mean annual increment by site class, rotation length, yield tables, and site suitability mapping. This data comes from KEFRI's own experimental plots, not modelled estimates.
Commercial species profilesBook laboratory and testing services
KEFRI's National Forest Products Research Centre provides ISO 9001-certified testing for timber (structural strength, durability, moisture content), forest products (board products, composites, treated timber), and seeds (germination rate, purity, viability). Testing supports product certification, import/export compliance, and quality assurance.
Book a testEngage KEFRI technical advisory for investment decisions
Evaluating a timber plantation investment? Expanding into new species or geographies? KEFRI's consultancy team provides technical advisory grounded in real field data — site assessment, species selection for specific productivity targets, risk assessment, and long-term planning support.
Consultancy servicesWhy KEFRI partnerships deliver where others cannot
KEFRI's value to development partners is its combination of assets no programme or project can replicate: a statutory national mandate, ninety years of field research across Kenya's ecological zones, direct relationships with all 47 county governments, a national research network, and credibility with both the Kenyan government and the international scientific community. This is not a project partner. This is the institutional infrastructure of Kenya's forestry sector.
Explore KEFRI's strategic capabilities
Download the KEFRI Capability and Impact Report. Review the five research programmes, six research centres, science and technology assets, and national network positions. Understand how KEFRI's mandate and reach align with your thematic priorities in forestry, climate, biodiversity, livelihoods, and governance.
Download capability reportReview evidence of KEFRI's impact
The Impact section of the platform presents case studies, outcome evidence, and national contributions across livelihoods, restoration, climate, policy, and industry. Evidence-based and honest — KEFRI does not claim outcomes it cannot demonstrate.
View impact evidenceRequest a capability briefing
KEFRI's Director General and senior leadership team are available for capability briefings — in person at KEFRI headquarters in Muguga, at a regional centre, or virtually. Briefings cover strategic alignment, programme design possibilities, institutional capacity, and governance. Request a briefing through the partnership inquiry form.
Request a briefingDesign a partnership aligned with KEFRI's Strategic Plan
KEFRI's Strategic Plan 2022–2027 identifies the research, technology, and institutional development priorities that KEFRI is committed to delivering. Effective partnerships are co-designed against these priorities — ensuring KEFRI's institutional interest and the partner's programme objectives are genuinely aligned, not just formally associated.
Partnership frameworkLearn from ninety years of Kenyan forestry science
KEFRI's knowledge platform is one of Africa's most comprehensive collections of field-grounded forestry science. For students and educators, it is a resource library, a biodiversity database, a case study collection, and a career pathway — all in one place.
Access the learning resource library
The Knowledge Hub is organised for multiple levels of engagement. Use the curated Student Collections for assignment research — species profiles, ecosystem guides, policy briefs, and technical reports, all organised by subject area. Download, cite, and build on KEFRI's published work.
Knowledge HubUse the Species Explorer for your research
The Species Explorer provides detailed profiles for 380+ tree species — ecological requirements, distribution, uses, wood properties, and links to peer-reviewed KEFRI publications. Every species profile cites its data sources, making the platform directly usable for academic assignments and dissertations.
Species ExplorerRead scientist profiles and explore career pathways
KEFRI's Scientist Directory features profiles of practising researchers across all five thematic programmes. Each profile describes how the scientist came to their field, what they work on, and what a career in forestry science looks like in Kenya. A genuine window into the profession.
Scientist directoryApply for a research attachment or internship
KEFRI offers student attachments and internships at all six research centres. Attachments are available in research support, field data collection, species taxonomy, laboratory work, and science communication. Apply through the attachment portal and indicate your area of interest and preferred centre.
Apply for attachmentYes. All KEFRI publications are citable peer-reviewed or institutional research outputs. Each publication record on the platform includes citation metadata. For publications with a DOI, use the standard academic citation format for your institution's style guide. For institutional reports without a DOI, the publication record provides all necessary citation information.
KEFRI accepts students for industrial attachments, research internships, and field data collection placements. Attachment durations range from 4 weeks (short industrial attachment) to 6 months (research internship). Placements are available at Muguga, Gede, Kitui, Londiani, Maseno, and the Karura National Forest Products Research Centre. Apply at least 8 weeks before your intended start date.
Yes — KEFRI actively supports university partnerships for joint research, curriculum contributions, and guest lecturing. University faculty should use the University Partnership pathway or contact the relevant KEFRI research programme lead directly. Share this page with your lecturer and encourage them to explore the Research Collaboration service.