Lamu residents who depend on mangrove trade have given the national government one week to lift the logging ban or they sue.
More than 30,000 families depend directly on mangrove trade in Lamu.
They are from Lamu, Manda, Ndau, Kizingitini, Faza, Mkokoni and Kiwayu islands. Others are from villages on the Lamu-Somalia border, including Kiunga and Ishakani.
In February, the government banned logging in public and community forests for 90 days.
Environment CS Keriako Tobiko in May extended the ban for another six months to allow for the appointment of a new Kenya Forest Service board.
But Lamu communities, who have been depending on mangrove logging for decades, have been immensely hurt by the ban.
Many of them are now living in poverty. Many homes are broken as women walk out on their jobless and broke husbands.
Residents say the mangrove logging ban was the final nail on the coffin. There is an active night fishing ban that prohibits fishermen from venturing out at night.
Lamu Mangrove Cutters Association chairperson Abdulrahman Aboud yesterday accused the government of reneging on its promise to have the ban lifted two months ago.
In September, Environment CAS Mohamed Elmi toured Lamu and promised to expedite measures to allow the ban to be lifted immediately.
The ban has not been lifted two months down the line.
Aboud said they will no longer entertain false promises and they will protest if the ban is not lifted in seven days. “Every government official who comes to Lamu has made promises to lift the ban, but nothing has been done,” he said.
Residents say the ban has not only affected the loggers but the economy and architectural progress of buildings of the Lamu Old Town – a heritage site that was listed by Unesco in 2001.
Lamu architectural designs involve the use of mangrove wood that is considered a cultural heritage passed down hundreds of generations.
“Every single building coming up here uses only mangrove wood and nothing else. That’s how this old town was built and how it is supposed to stay,” Aboud said.
Husna Lali who inherited the mangrove logging business from her father says many have no alternative livelihoods. She said she has been unable to keep her children in school or to sufficiently provide for them.
“We hope the government will consider the number of people directly affected by the ban and lift it,” Lali said.