ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the role that dryland hilltop forests in Kitui District, Kenya, play in both biodiversity conservation and strengthening adaptation to climate change. It examines the way that differing land and resource tenure regimes that pertain to hilltop forests in drylands affect the success of local synergies between biodiversity conservation and adaptation to climate change and investigates functions of hilltops in the area. The chapter examines the way in which the policy framework allocates rights pertaining to the functions. It argues that tenure regimes are polarised between being aimed at private use and forest conservation, in effect undermining both adaptation to climate change and biodiversity conservation. A favourable micro-climate, combined with vegetation cover, means that the hill and adjacent areas experience more reliable rainfall and/or water sources even when regional climate variations imply drought conditions in the district. Degraded vegetation could potentially lead to reduced watershed and microclimate qualities.
