The Kenya Forest Service has been forced to diversify its sources of revenue following the four-year-old logging ban on public and community forests.
KFS chief conservator Julius Kamau told the Star that the 2018 moratorium on logging, which was one of their biggest sources of revenue, has been crippling.
“That again gives us a chance to interrogate as Kenya Forest Service and see other opportunities that we have as a service to survive and sustain our operations,” he said.
Kamau said non-extractive, nature-based enterprises have been taken up by the service.
“One of the strongest nature-based enterprises that we have found is ecotourism. This is where we allow communities and the private sector to to occupy some of the scenic sites that we have,” he said.
Kamau said one of the scenic sites is the five mangroves in the coastal counties — Lamu, Tana River, Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa.
Kamau said those seeking to invest in ecotourism can only be allowed if they have done proper restoration and conservation.
The total area of mangroves in the country is estimated at 61,271 hectares.
Lamu has 35,350 hectares, representing 61 per cent, Kilifi (8,536 ha) representing 14 per cent and Kwale (8,354ha) representing 14 per cent.
Mombasa has 3,771 ha(six per cent) and Tana River (3,260 ha) representing five per cent.
In the financial year 2021-22, 307.9ha of mangrove area was restored in Lamu, Kilifi (1223.2 ha), Kwale (57.5 ha), Mombasa (1,800 ha) and Tana River (653 ha) bringing the total restored area to 4041.6 ha.
A 90-day ban on logging was initially imposed on February 24, 2018, and later extended to November 24.
It was again extended for a year to facilitate sector reforms.
The ban restricted the extraction of timber from all public and community forests.
The move was meant to give KFS more time to fully implement new measures to protect forests.
The ban was arrived at following the findings of a task force that had been constituted by the government to inquire into forest resource management and logging activities in the country.
The task force said the board and the management of KFS had been unable to “stem and in some instances have directly participated in, abated and systematised rampant corruption and abuse of office.”
“The Kenya Forest Service has institutionalised corruption and the system is replete with deep-rooted corrupt practices, lack of accountability and unethical behaviour,” the report said.
The task force noted that illegal logging of indigenous trees was a major threat to forests and was rampant in key forest areas.
In November 2020, Environment CS Keriako Tobiko partially lifted the ban.
“Having considered the recommendations of both the board of management of the Kenya Forest Service and the multi-agency team on mapping, verification and valuation of mature and over-mature forest plantations," Tobiko said.
"The government has decided that the moratorium on logging in public and community forests imposed by the government since 2018 shall continue.|
"However, it shall be varied or modified to allow for harvesting and disposal by KFS of mature and over-mature forest plantations for an area not exceeding 5,000 hectares."
The CS had said the harvesting and disposal of forest plantation materials will be supervised by a multi-agency team and that the process was to be done in an open, transparent and accountable manner that ensures value for money.
“The details and particulars of the forest areas to be harvested and the terms and conditions applicable thereto including replanting conditions shall be published in due course,” Tobiko said.
However, nothing much has been done since then following infighting and bad blood between members of the multi-agency team.
The technical experts from KFS feel that their expertise was being taken for granted.
Forest plantations currently cover about 335,000 acres in gazetted reserves of Kenya.
Most plantations are located in five major water towers: Mt Kenya, Aberdares, Mau Forest Complex, Cherangani Hills and Mt Elgon.
In 2019, saw millers cried foul, saying trees worth billions of shillings were rotting due to the ban.
Saw millers said the government was losing between Sh20 billion and Sh30 billion.
KFS normally plants eucalyptus trees away from water bodies as they consume a lot of water.
When trees mature, the KFS carries out an audit and its plantation team marks the trees for sale to the registered saw millers who are about 800.
Buyers deposit money in a National Treasury account and are issued receipts.
Millers take the receipts to forest station officers and harvest the mature trees under supervision.
KFS protects 6.4 million acres of gazetted forests and another 420 million acres under counties.
A few days ago, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga announced that the government had lifted the 14-year-old logging ban on public and community forests.
Odinga who was speaking in Elburgon during his tour of Nakuru said he was only communicating a government directive issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He said the President lifted the ban after multiple complaints from residents of areas that were mainly supported by the timber industry.
The Environment ministry has, however, not formally communicated the lifting of the ban.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
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