Soipan Tuya, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, has revealed government intentions to fence all gazetted forests nationwide in order to protect them from encroachment and other harmful human activities.
The results from ecosystem restoration initiatives like the 15 billion national tree growth plan, she said, would also be sustained with the help of the fencing.
“The first thing we’ve done as a Ministry is to map all forests across Kenya. We’re looking for partners to back up Government funding for fencing of all forests across the country,” CS Tuya announced.
The Cabinet Secretary spoke on Wednesday in Marsabit during a meeting with the community forest association on the first day of her two-day working visit of the County at the Marsabit Kenya Forest Service (KFS) office.
At the same time, CS Tuya appealed to forest-adjacent communities to participate more actively in conservation activities saying the Government won’t succeed in its ecosystem restoration efforts without their support.
“I know we won’t succeed without collaboration and good relations with communities. We must collaborate. You are our eyes. You’re the owners of the environment,” the CS said.
“People who imagine that our forests are available for encroachment should forget it. We have started an operation, starting in Mau, a place called Sururu and we will go to all forests,” CS Tuya said as she challenged KFS to enhance surveillance against illegal forest activities.
“We can’t employ more rangers and then have more illegalities. The reason we are employing more rangers is to enhance enforcement. We have to phase out all illegal forest activities.
“We can’t be pushing for the growing of 15 billion trees while at the same time losing more trees to illegal activities. We can’t be engaged in a zero sum game,” the CS cautioned.
The Cabinet Secretary emphasised that her Ministry will monitor to make sure that the criteria are met as she reminded Government agencies of their goals as outlined in the 15 billion national tree-growing initiative.
CS Tuya also discussed the production of sufficient seedlings to sustain the initiative’s 15 billion national tree planting effort, stating that her Ministry was collaborating with the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) to generate enough seeds.
To guarantee that Kenyans grow trees best suited for their ecological zones, CS Tuya said KEFRI has been charged with carrying out ecological species matching in addition to producing enough tree seeds.
“We’re working with KEFRI, which is a scientific institution in my Ministry, to undertake species matching so that, if it is Marsabit, we know the right species for this area,” the CS said, adding that 30 percent of all seeds produced will be fruit and nut species to support agroforestry.
The CS stated that the Government was intent on mapping and fencing wetlands across the nation so as to use their water for year-round tree-growing activities. This was in reference to the conservation of wetlands.
NEMA DG Mr. Mamo Mamo and Marsabit County MP Hon Naomi Waqo also spoke at the conference. They criticised the expanding invasion of the Marsabit Forest and advocated for coordinated measures to preserve the county’s woods.
In addition to calling for more security patrols in Marsabit Forest, Hon Waqo, who is accompanying the CS on the two-day tour, also advocated for forest conservation. He claimed that the woodland had turned into a hideout for armed bandits who maim and kill residents.
