•“We mainly have the pine, eucalyptus and Grevillea. It will be a disaster if there's a disease affecting any of them as it happened to cypress."
•The Icraf meeting, noted that a lot of tree planting efforts are a disaster because of over-reliance on exotic species and the lack of diversity in indigenous varieties.
Image: file
Kenyans are now free to apply for permits to grow and harvest the endangered sandalwood.
Kenya Forest Service said it has already approved guidelines which approved farmers must follow.
The permits are approved by KFS, Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri) and the Kenya Wildlife Services.
KFS head of forest health and biodiversity conservation James Mwangombe said the guidelines will prevent traffickers from taking advantage of the domestication to harvest the tree in protected areas.
“We will track it from seedling to maturity. If you bring us 100 kilogrammes and we know your expected output was 50 kilogrammes, we will catch you,” he said in Nairobi on Monday during a meeting on tree seedbanks and tree diversity.
The meeting was organised by the World Agroforestry Centre (Icraf) and the Center for International Forestry Research.
“We also have barcoding of some of these tree species to track them,” he added.
Mwangombe said a farmers' group in Laikipia has already been licensed to grow sandalwood on farms.
Sandalwood oil is commonly known for its woodsy, sweet smell and is frequently used as a base for products such as incense, perfumes, cosmetics, and aftershave.
In 2018, the East African sandalwood tree was listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
It is also listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
Mwangombe urged Kenyans to diversify trees on their farms saying the country was dominated by three species.
“We mainly have the pine, eucalyptus and Grevillea. It will be a disaster if there's a disease affecting any of them as it happened to cypress,” he said.
The Icraf meeting noted that a lot of tree planting efforts are a disaster because of over-reliance on exotic species and the lack of diversity in indigenous varieties.
According to Kirsty Shaw, head of ecological restoration and tree conservation at non-profit Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), Kenya has more than 1,100 native tree species.
Of these, 147 are globally threatened species.
She said, for instance, in 2009, 25 per cent of Karura forest cover comprised native species whereas 75 per cent consisted of exotic plantations.
Kirsty said this led to the restoration process within the forest to bring about biodiversity brought by native tree species.
In 2011, Friends of Karura Forest embarked on the removal of invasive exotic species such as the Lantana Camara and Mauritius Thorn for it was impossible for native species to thrive.
Their restoration process saw the clearing of about 15 hectares of land, which was replaced with native species.
According to Ely Kogei, a conservation officer from FKF, they established a tree nursery for the planting of these native species.
Baseline information on these species was obtained through vegetation surveys and engagement with the local communities.
Both seeds and wildlings were 60 per cent sourced from a local collection whereas the rest were acquired from KEFRI, ICRAF and other local vendors.
“The community has played a big role in the maintenance of our FKF tree nursery. Clearing areas has created job opportunities for permanent and contracted community members,” he said.
“Contracted work was offered to user groups from Huruma informal settlement,” said Ely.