Government has lifted the total logging ban that has been in place since 2018.
This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there was rampant encroachment and destruction of forests before the logging ban was implemented. On the other hand, exotic trees in plantations are now rotting because they cannot be harvested.
President Ruto and the Forestry Department clearly believe that only plantation trees will be harvested and that this will boost local industry including furniture manufacturers. Exotic trees like eucalyptus and grevillea are not indigenous to Kenya - they come from Australia. It does not do any great environmental harm to harvest foreign trees.
However, government should work very hard to protect indigenous trees that are often rarer, more valuable, and more vulnerable to exploitation. Indigenous trees, including mugumo, Meru oak, Nandi flame, etc., provide valuable ecosystem services by hosting pollinators and improving soil health. Indigenous species should be protected and should be prioritised in the 15 billion trees that President Ruto wants to plant in the next 10 years.
So, the logging ban should remain in place for indigenous trees but should be lifted for exotics in plantation forests.
Quote of the day: "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."
Henry David Thoreau
The American writer moved to Walden Pond on July 4, 1845
