Forests in Murang'a must be rehabilitated to conserve major water towers, county commissioner John Elungata has said.
Elungata urged residents to plant trees, saying logging has caused serious deforestation.
He called on all stakeholders to put concerted efforts into rehabilitating forests in the county that is considered to be one of the main water towers in the country.
Elungata has said drying up of rivers in the county would adversely affect many other parts of the country that rely on rivers which have their sources in the county.
The commissioner noted that major forests in the country have been devastated by logging activities conducted years back and needs serious rehabilitation.
Speaking on Friday during a tree planting exercise at Kiambicho Forest, Elungata asked the government to work together with communities living around natural resources to conserve them.
“Huge portions of forests have been left bare due to consistent cutting down of trees,” Elungata said.
He said Murang’a is the main source of water for many parts of the country and that the impact of deforestation in local forests will affect millions of Kenyans.
A three-month government ban on logging is soon coming to an end. Elungata asked residents to act as watchdogs to guard forests.
“We need to sit down with all stakeholders and decide what actions to take to conserve forests,” Elungata said.
