Kenya Forest Service has launched the construction of a 55-kilometre electric fence around Menengai Forest in Nakuru as a security measure to avoid encroachment.
Kenya Forest Service Chief Conservator of Forests, Alex Lemarkoko said the project which is going to cost more than Sh100 million would protect the natural resource from poaching and environmental degradation.
He said the vast Menengai forest is an urban forest which is a very critical ecosystem because of the goods and services that emanate from there.
Lemarkoko observed that the surrounding communities derive environmental services such as good air quality, cool conditions and many other in-quantifiable benefits of environmental nature.
“The main beneficiaries are the communities living around the forest which extends to five out of the 11 sub-counties of Nakuru County namely Bahati, Nakuru Town East, Nakuru Town West, Rongai and Subukia,” he said.
Menengai forest is home to the world’s second caldera, a major tourist attraction which draws thousands of tourists from within and outside the country.
It covers an area of 7,000 hectares out of which 2,000 hectares is forested while the rest is mainly the caldera which is rocky with scattered shrubs.
Most of the local tourists who visit Menengai Crater are students keen to learn the mystery of some of the major volcanic activities in the Great Rift Valley.
Lemarkoko said the caldera was a very good resource for geothermal development which hosts Geothermal Development Company (GDC) and several Power Producing Companies (PPCs) which are already injecting power to the national grid.
He observed that the forest provided a good opportunity for recreational services for the urban population that is often affected by living in a concrete jungle.
He said the major challenge in the management of the Menengai forest was encroachment, illegal poaching and degradation of the vegetation arising from the needs of the communities living around it.
“Poverty levels here are high and there has always been a need for people to go in for firewood, building materials, charcoal burning and grazing inside the forest which thus makes its management unsustainable,” he said.
He said fencing is offering a solution because it would secure the forest boundaries, ensure natural regeneration and enhance biodiversity.
“When a forest area is protected without necessarily planting trees, natural courses take place, including seed dispersal by insects, birds and mammals which provides an opportunity for increased regeneration,” he said.
