WORLD BRIEFING / KENYA

The government and a U.N. agency launched a $400-million appeal to save the Mau Forests Complex, the country’s biggest closed-canopy forest and a vital water catchment area.

Experts say the Mau Complex has lost about 264,000 acres of trees, a quarter of its total, over the last two decades to illegal settlement, logging and charcoal burning encouraged by corrupt officials.

Loss of the wooded area threatens energy generation, tourism, agriculture and water supplies to cities and industry, doing severe damage to East Africa’s biggest economy. The money would be used to replant degraded areas, create a strategic management plan and raise public awareness.