Conservationist lectures RUTO over plan to ‘grab’ 51 acres of land from Karura Forest – Look!

Friday, December 20, 2024 - Recent reports of deforestation efforts at Kenya’s Karura Forest in Nairobi have divided the public, government, and key conservationists on who exactly is behind the cutting down of trees in the natural habitat.

Friends of Karura Forest (FKF), a conservation outfit dedicated to preserving the forest, explained that the cutting down of trees was part of the forest’s restoration efforts.

They noted that the restoration was being conducted in conjunction with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and involved the selective cutting of trees. 

FKF added that the restoration was taking place after a logging ban in 2018 caused a six-year delay. However, the government continues to face mounting pressure from environmental activists over its decision to slice pieces of the forest land.

The government also recently came out to deny reports that it was slicing about 51 hectares of land.

In August this year, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) permitted the Kenya National Highways Authority to use 51 hectares of forest land as a wayleave for the dualling of Kiambu Road.

This led to an uproar among stakeholders and Kenyans on what was exactly transpiring inside the forest.

Conservationists, led by Isaac Kalua, in a statement gave the government key conservation strategies that can be used to avoid the environmental degradation that the deforestation to give wayleave has caused.

Kalua urged the government to optimise existing infrastructure by expanding lanes only in non-sensitive areas to minimise habitat disturbance.

The government has also been urged to introduce High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes to improve traffic efficiency without large-scale expansions that would destroy the forest cover.

Consequently, the government has been urged to enhance public transport by expanding bus, metro, and rail networks to provide sustainable alternatives to road travel.

According to Kalua, had the government employed these strategies, the uproar over slicing the forest for road construction would not have been witnessed.

The Kenyan DAILY POST