President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to conduct an investigation into the ongoing uprooting of Baobab trees in Kilifi county.
“I have instructed the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to look into the ongoing uprooting of Baobab trees in Kilifi County to ensure that it sits within the Convention on Biodiversity and the Nagoya Protocol. There must be adequate authorization and an equitable benefit-sharing formula for Kenyans. Further, the exercise must be in line with the Government’s agenda of planting 15 billion trees in the next 10 years,” Ruto tweeted.
This comes after environmentalists condemned the massive export of the baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) from Kilifi to Georgia. According to sources, the foreigners paid KES 300,000 for the tree.
According to Kilifi County Nema Director George Oyoo, the foreigners had illegally uprooted eight baobab trees for export.
