Kenya’s Forest Allocation Plan Unsettles Environmentalists

Government plans to turn thousands of acres of forest land into settlements for squatters have sparked widespread outrage among environmentalists, politicians and concerned citizens, who say the move threatens to turn Kenya into a vast desert.

Excessive logging, poaching and overgrazing in the forests, which serve as water catchment areas, have already led to shriveled rivers and dams. Last year, a prolonged drought grounded power stations and plunged the country into a water and electricity crisis.

Critics accuse the government of trying to entice the landless with handouts in an effort to win votes for the ruling party in next year’s general election. They also say the land is being awarded to wealthy administration loyalists and not the needy.

“The government is trying to buy very cheap short-term political support,” opposition politician Paul Muite charged.

“They have no more land to give out, so they have targeted mountains and hills,” said Joe Donde, another local lawmaker.

Government officials say that people are already living on most of the land slated for deforestation and that the state is obliged to settle its citizens.

“It would be unfair for anyone to oppose such a noble decision,” Environment Minister Francis Nyenze said recently.

But nature specialists warn that the proposed deforestation of 167,000 acres, or 10% of Kenya’s woodlands, threatens the country with irreversible environmental degradation. Even now, Kenya’s forest cover is only 2%, and environmentalists say that 10% of any landmass must be forested to help ensure adequate rainfall. The water that trees pump up from underground and release into the atmosphere rises as cool, moist air that often condenses into rain.

“If these circumstances continue, the outlook for Kenya’s forest is very grim,” said Gerry Neville, chief technical advisor for the Mt. Elgon Project, a group that focuses on the conservation of biodiversity.

Several Kenyan nongovernmental organizations have filed suit in the high court to block the planned deforestation and forestall changes in woodland boundaries. They cited a breach of national laws, environmental policies and international conventions against forest destruction to which Kenya is a signatory.

“What we are worried about is that it will continue to set a precedent for this type of thing,” said Sam Mwale, chairman of the conservation committee at the Nairobi-based East African Wildlife Society. “We have continued to lose forests for the last 50 to 70 years. When will we say, ‘Enough is enough’ ? “

In addition to the 167,000 acres, the government has plans to allocate for human settlement additional areas inside the Mt. Elgon forest reserve, much of which have already been occupied but not officially assigned. Hundreds of families living in areas that were once woodland have built schools and clinics. They will be given official title deeds for ownership of the land they now occupy, if the state goes ahead with its deforestation plan.

The forest around Mt. Elgon, a dormant volcano straddling the border with Uganda, is also one of the largest water catchment areas in East and Central Africa. Rivers from its drainage pattern flow into major sources, such as Lake Victoria--the world’s second-largest body of fresh water, exceeded only by Lake Superior.

In recent weeks, more squatters have invaded additional areas of officially protected woodland, which boasts abundantly fertile soil.

“They do some destruction of the forest. They do some planting, poaching, charcoal burning and illegal brewing of alcohol,” said Surtan Kirongo, a forester in charge of Mt. Elgon’s Saboti forest. He and his 11 guards have been overrun by illegal tenants and have requested reinforcements. Lack of clear boundaries and inadequate patrolling encourage the encroachment.

“The Forest Department is not able to effectively discharge its mandate, and it seems that in the past there has been extensive malpractice, often supported by people charged with protecting the forests,” said Neville, the conservationist.

Foresters and local officials in some areas are known to have illegally allotted themselves plots of woodland for growing crops.

Rows of tree stumps--saplings singed by squatters trying to sabotage the planting of new trees so that they can live on the land--and lush fields of wheat where teak and other species once stood greet the eye across vast tracts of these woodlands.

“A small percentage of people understand the forest is important,” said Martin Eshiwani, the district officer for Mt. Elgon. “But sometimes personal needs can override the general goodness of society.”

The Mt. Elgon Project, which seeks to foster greater environmental awareness, runs a program that encourages community members to plant tree seedlings on their plots. It is an arduous but crucial step toward recovering some lost trees.

Farmers Vincent and Emily Chemiat, who live in the Cheptumbelo region of Mt. Elgon, used to be apathetic forest dwellers. Now they’re nature lovers.

In 1986, they were evicted from a nearby forest where they had cultivated crops and hunted game. Now they plant saplings on their five-acre homestead, and to hear them preach the value of protecting trees is like listening to veteran environmentalists.

“You can get firewood, timber for building and clean air from trees,” said Emily Chemiat, 38, a mother of seven. “They are [windbreaks] for the strong winds that blow through here. They flower, and we can hang beehives on them. They add beauty. No trees, no rain.”

During last year’s drought, which devastated much of East Africa, the Chemiats lost 1,000 tree seedlings worth nearly $80. The sum could have covered the cost of one year of primary education for all of their children, they lamented, or six months’ worth of food.

Other Mt. Elgon communities, awaiting official deeds for 22,000 acres of forest they have long occupied, said they are grateful that they will finally be able to call the land their own. But they expressed disappointment that the government hadn’t opted to destroy a larger chunk of forest, to provide more space for them to graze cattle.

“The land is too small. They should expand the area,” said Francis Chemwor, leader of the Ndorobo community, traditionally herdsmen and forest hunters. “Historically and geographically, we are the inhabitants of [this region], so the government should give us more land.”