SUSPENSION OF BAN ON LOGGING IN KENYA TO ROLL BACK GAINS MADE IN INCREASING FOREST COVER

8th August 2023

Clive Ayuko

The recent declaration to suspend the 5 year logging ban in community and Public forest by President William Ruto has not been received well by the climate centric civil society organization Green peace Africa.

Speaking at Green Peace Africa Offices in Nairobi Community Manager for Green Peace Africa Ms. Tracy Muketi argued; ” The decision which the head of state clarified as geared towards increasing employment opportunities in Kenya raises concerns on the sustainability of such activities in Kenyan forests in addition to having adverse consequences on the environment”. She continued to add, ” since the ban was declared in 2018 Kenya has increased its forest cover from 5% to 8% and the lifting of the ban will roll back the gains made in increasing the forest cover.

The ban was initially declared to curb the rampant illegal logging and the resultant depletion of the country’s water towers was a step in the right direction considering the report by World Metrological Organization WTO in 2018 which warned that the East Africa three remaining glaciers The Ruwenzori in Tanzania, Mount Kenya in Kenya and Kilimanjaro will vanish by the year 2040. This will have adverse consequences on coffee farming with 10 million coffee farmers in the East Africa region to be affected by the disappearance of the glaciers. It is estimated the Africa will be home to 86 million of the 216 million climate migrants worldwide.

Forests play an important function in maintaining the ecological balance and providing essential ecosystem services. They act as carbon sinks, helping to mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Congo Basin which contains the world’s Second largest primary rainforest and runs from Central African Republic, Congo, Cameron, Gabon, and the Equitorial Guinea for instance soaked ups 1.2 billion of the 7.8 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere every year worldwide making the countries with considerable leverage in the carbon credit markets

The United Nations Environmental Programme recommends that every country should have a forest cover of atleast 10% and the decision to suspend the ban by President Ruto may roll back the gains made at increasing forest cover which currently stands at 8 percent for Kenya. Other noteable organizations which have come out to criticize the ban include Miti Alliance and the Green Africa Foundation

#EnvironmentNews #ClimateNews #DroughtandHumanitarianAssistance #Agriculture #AfricaNews #EastAfricaNews