The Queen of England, through the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy (QCC), has included the Maasai Mau Forest among the indigenous forests to be conserved across Africa.
The Kenyan government has been on a mission to rid the forest of human presence and rehabilitate it, resulting in mass eviction of alleged encroachment late last year.
On Wednesday, the forest was admitted to the QCC, after bring proposed by the Kenyan government. Kenya is among the 53 African countries that made their submissions.
The communication was made to president Uhuru Kenyatta through a letter from Queen Elizabeth II, a development that was welcomed by Environment CS Keriako Tobiko.
“This is great news. The admission of MMF to the QCC is a clear confirmation by Her Majesty The Queen of Mau's importance as a vital ecological and biodiversity asset, not just for Kenya and the Region, but for the whole World," Tobiko said on Wednesday.
The Queen has been taking part in preservation of forests and helping other counties plant new forests since 2015 as a way of marking her lifetime service to the Commonwealth.
The extensive water tower, which boasts of 22 forest bocks and covers 445,000 hectares has been under threat due to heavy destruction caused by human beings.