- Muriithi said a ridge, off Ngong Road, past Karen is now illegally under the hands of a private developer
- He said more than 40 acres of the forest are in the hands of the private developer
Communities living near Oloolua Forest have expressed fresh concerns over surging illegal activities in the forest.
The Oloolua Community Forest Association said the illegal activities have threatened wildlife and nature.
Chairman Christopher Muriithi said some sections of the forest along the riparian area have been grabbed.
“The owner claims to have ownership documents,” he said.
Oloolua Forest is frequented Nairobi residents who want to escape the daily hustle and bustle of city.
Muriithi said a ridge, off Ngong Road, past Karen is now illegally under the hands of a private developer.
He said more than 40 acres of the forest are in the hands of the private developer.
“There is a government facility inside called the Radioactive Waste Facility, which is under Nuclear Authority,” Muriithi says.
He said the organisation that claims ownership is currently digging trenches.
The chairman said that the association has repeatedly reported the encroachments, but no action has been.
Communities adjacent to forest resources are supposed to form Community Forest Associations, register with the Kenya Forest Service and sign the Participatory Forest Management Plan and Forest Management Agreement.
Once the CFAs sign agreements with KFS, they get user rights.
Some user rights include the collection of medicinal herbs, harvesting of honey, collection of wood, grass harvesting and grazing.
Others are ecotourism, recreational activities and plantation establishments.
There are 255 registered CFAs across the country, 163 have approved participatory forest management plans and 102 have signed forest management agreements between KFS and CFA.
Muriithi said Oloolua forest was gazetted in 1941 and the radioactive waste facility was constructed in the forest more than 20 years ago after a series of public participation.
“Where was this 'owner' when all this happened? Where were they all those years? They have been digging trenches to construct mason walls; there is no signboard with details about the project is, who the owner or contractor is and no EIA/EA report available. Something is fishy here,” he said.
Muriithi urged KFS to move with speed and mark the forest boundaries.
The chairman said there is another attempt to grab the forest by excavation of murram.
He said he said the quarrying is taking place at the heart of a gazetted forest.
“We raised the issue that there was no public participation and that our roads also needed to be fixed,” Muriithi said.
The Karen Langata District Association told the Star that it has received concerns from Oloolua Ridge residents over developments at Mbagathi River and surrounding forest.
KLDA said the reported activities include, felling of trees, extensive dumping of soils on riparian lands and construction.
The association visited the site on Wednesday and observed that the owner had a permit to cut 10 mature trees.
The permit was valid between December 27, 2022 and December 13, 2023.
Reports indicate that more than 40 trees have since been felled.
“Additionally, we noticed that they had a NEMA license to construct a boundary wall. We were not provided with any county approvals," KLDA said.
Preliminary findings by KLDA reveal that the development is owned by a Karen resident who intends to construct townhouses on the riparian land.
It said it has written a formal complaint to the National Environment Management Authority, the National Environmental Complaints Committee, Nairobi county, the water resources authority and the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations for action.
When reached for comment, KFS Nairobi Head of Conservancy Joyce Nthuku said the service has received complaints and will on Friday dispatch a team from Kajiado to carry out a probe.
She said the report from the probe will inform action to be taken.
Oloolua ward MCA Eli Gor said he has been notified about the illegal activities and was to tour the forest on Thursday.
Kathy Moore, a member of the Oloolua Ridge residents, said the illegal activities surged on December 22.
“We shared the information on social media, but nothing happened as it was a holiday,” she said.
Moore said an upcoming development near Riparian does not have clear documentation or signage as outlined in the law.
“The person involved seemed to be doing something quickly before being stopped,” she said.
According to Friends of Oloolua Forest, the resource has 375 hectares (926 acres) of endemic forest, 109 hectares (269 acres) of degraded forest, and 156 hectares (385 acres) of eucalyptus plantations.
The excised section for schools, roads, and railways is 24 hectares (59 acres).
This brings the total area under forest to 663 hectares (1,638 acres.)
The Oloolua is part of the Ngong Hills Forest ecosystem.
The ecosystem is composed of the Ngong Hills forest with about 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) and Kibiku, which is 500 hectares (1,235 acres).
This is not the first time the forest has gotten into controversy.