NGO calls for reinstatement of ban on logging

Nyeri, Tuesday, July 4, 2023

KNA by Samuel Maina

An environmental lobby group has faulted the recent lifting of a six-year ban on logging by the State terming the decision premature.

The response follows a directive by President Dr William Ruto on Sunday that effectively lifted a freeze on logging across the country in a bid to unlock job opportunities for hundreds of saw millers who lost their earnings following the enactment of the ban in 2018.

The Head of State who was speaking at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Molo, Nakuru, however stated that his government had put up plans to ensure that only mature trees are harvested while and at the same time replacing those that have been felled.

But responding to the directive, Greenpeace Africa’s Community Manager Tracy Makheti faulted the decision saying it went against the President’s earlier commitment in protecting the dwindling forest cover in the country especially in the face of adverse effects of climate change.

She argued that the Head of State had committed to increasing the country’s forest cover to 30 percent by 2030.

“Greenpeace Africa is alarmed by these developments. During last year's Mashujaa day celebrations, President Ruto made a commitment to increase the forest cover to 30 percent by 2032. Greenpeace Africa is perturbed that 8 months down the line, the president has made a U-turn on his own words,” she stated through a press release.

“There is an evident lack of goodwill in implementing the existing policies on illegal logging. By lifting this ban, President Ruto has prioritised profit over people and nature. The ban on logging in public and community forests should not be based on monetary value, but rather on restoring our natural forests with indigenous trees,” she added.

Greenpeace is now calling for the government to suspend the directive and come up with a policy that will encourage farmers to incorporate tree planting in their pieces of land as one way of increasing tree cover and providing much needed revenue to private firms and individuals.

The NGO has also called for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to consider planting of indigenous trees in the 8,000 hectares bare buffer zones to help restore biodiversity and increase forest cover.

"The Ministry of Environment and Forestry should upscale the establishment of mixed forest plantations as it will increase forest cover and at the same time increase revenue while building the economy by providing employment opportunities. The Ministry should also consider planting indigenous trees in the 8,000-hectare bare buffer zones, to help restore biodiversity and increase forest cover,” said the official. 

“As a long-term solution, the Ministry should work to foster collaborative relations with communities living near the forests as well as environmental protection agencies and activists instead of resorting to unsustainable solutions. They should prioritise fast growing species of bamboo to supplement wood and timber needs of the country,” she stated.ccording to the National Forest Resources Assessment Report, the country’s forest cover stands at 8.83 per cent.

Nyeri County has three times the nationally recommended 10 per cent forest cover and a tree cover of 45.17 per cent.

The State imposed a ban on logging on February 24, 2018 which effectively restricted the extraction of timber from all public and community forests.

During the last financial year, Nyeri County KFS office collected Sh24,639,806.50 as revenue against a targeted figure of Sh40 million owing to restriction on the sale of forest produce.

The previous moratorium was arrived at following the findings of a task force that had been constituted by the government to inquire into forest resource management and logging activities in the country.

The task force found out that the board and the management of KFS had been unable to “stem and in some instances have directly participated in, abated and systematised rampant corruption and abuse of office” in undertaking harvesting of forest products.

Forest plantations currently cover at least 335,000 acres in all gazetted reserves of Kenya including the Mount Kenya, Aberdare, Mau Forest Complex, Cherangani Hills and Mt Elgon.

In 2019, saw millers across the country had raised concern over the ban on logging, saying trees worth billions of shillings were rotting in the government forests and in the process denying Treasury at least 30 billion shillings annually in lost revenue.

Courtesy ; K. N. A