Background
The East African rainforest eco-systems play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity. One of such ecosystems is the Kakamega Forest, which is the only remaining patch of Kenya's Guineo-Congolean rain forests and a world famous conservation site known for its diversity of both flora and fauna. This rainforest has, however, been degrading rapidly as human population growth and resource extraction have increased tremendously in the last century. Hence, the Kakamega Forest can be regarded as a good example for the present as well as the future development of East African rainforests in general. The losses of biodiversity in this ecosystem may undermine the chances for future generations to adequately respond to increasing and changing consumer demand, potential environmental changes, diseases, and other challenges we cannot foresee or predict. The fundamental economic causes for such losses include underestimation of the value of biodiversity, lack of incentives for maintenance of biodiversity, absence or managerial deficiencies of local institutions to conserve and utilize biodiversity; absence of markets, and attempts to free ride (nationally/internationally) in the use of resources. It is against such a background that this subproject pursues the following objectives and concepts.

Objectives and concepts
The overall aim of this subproject is to provide an understanding of the area-specific development path of different rainforest systems depending on different driving forces and the rate at which the forest resources can be utilized currently without destroying the basis for economic utilization in the future. For the long-term perspective, this research seeks to develop a model on how forest islands surrounded by savannah and human settlement can be assessed according to a gradient of disturbance. This would then enable one to implement tailored development schemes to different habitats according to their level of biodiversity and development. The research has the following specific objectives:

1. To conduct a spatial analysis of the relevant areas and develop spatial models to assess the driving forces of forest degradation according to a gradient of disturbance.
2. To evaluate the economic value of use and non-use values of rainforest systems in Kakamega Forest, along the gradient of degradation, and assess whether the Forest, with all its unique and endemic biodiversity, is able to compete with alternative forms of land use, e.g. farming.
3. To assess the magnitudes of different categories of costs and benefits of utilization and maintenance of forest resources from the perspective of different management approaches and along the gradient of degradation, and develop cost benefit models that provide an understanding of the efficient and sustainable approaches of conserving the biological resources of Kakamega Forest.