• They lower water levels and worsen drought; the government has called for uprooting them before.
• CS Tobiko ordered they be uprooted countrywide and indigenous trees planted instead.
Image: Gilbert Koech
Image: COURTESY
The government has ordered the removal of all fast-growing eucalyptus trees near water.
They are thirsty, draw a lot of water and grow fast, often drying streams. They are used for windbreaks and telephone poles.
They can only be grown at least 50 metres from water.
Environment CS Keriako Tobiko made the announcement on World Wetlands Day on Sunday at Enapuiyapui Swamp Kiptunga Forest, Eastern Mau Nakuru county.
"The exotic trees such as eucalyptus are responsible for drying of water streams," the CS said. Tobiko said eucalyptus draw as many as 90 litres of water a day in wet conditions and 4o litres in dry conditions
He praised Kisii county for being a trailblazer in removing exotic trees along river banks. In July last year, Governor James Ongwae gave residents three months to remove their eucalyptus trees.
Water levels in springs and rivers had declined.
The residents were advised to plant other trees 50 metres from water catchment areas. Tobiko said it's necessary to have indigenous trees near water bodies as they conserve water.
He told farmers not to graze their aninals near the forests.
The CS directed Kenya Forest Service to remove all eucalyptus trees in Enapuiyapui Swamp in Kiptunga Forest.
The swamp is the source of Mara River, which has been drying up at an alarming rate.
Tobiko said the KFS should map out the area before removing all eucalyptus trees and before replacing them with indigenous trees. There should be proper valuation and recording. The money from trees sold will be used to plant indigenous trees, Tobiko said.
The CS said there has been serious degradation of the swamp, leading to the drying of the Mara River.
The Mara River has its source in the southwestern Mau forests of Kenya draining into Lake Victoria at Musoma in Tanzania.
The Mara River Basin is about 13,750 square kilometres, 65 per cent in Kenya and 35 per cent in Tanzania.
The river passes through the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, the latter being a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve.
Both the Mara and Serengeti are of great global conservation significance at the local, national and regional levels.
Farmers also abstract water from the river and from marshes.
Tobiko said the management of the Mara River is critical to poverty alleviation, improving health and food security.
He urged KFS, Nema and the Nakuru county to survey the swamp.
"Boundaries of the swamp should be known and be gazetted as a specially protected area. I know it is within a protected forest but that has not helped," Tobiko said.
The CS urged agencies to ensure that the swamp is a protected site of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Wetlands are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems as they provide essential services and supply all freshwater.
However, they continue to be degraded and converted to other uses.
The Ramsar convention includes all significant lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.
More than 2,300 Ramsar sites are located worldwide. Kenya has six, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, Lake Elmenteita, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru and Tana River Delta.
Population growth, poorly planned tourist facilities, water pollution and unregulated water abstraction by urban settlements, large-scale commercial farming, industrial activities coupled with failures of local, national and regional legislation and institutional structures are also aggravate the situation.
(Edited b V. Graham)