In concentrated efforts to address climate change, A German conservationist has established a free meeting place at her farm to address the same.
For more than 20 years, Silvia Pirreli 75 has dedicated her life to conserving a forest in Mere village, Malindi, Kilifi County.
She has established a free meeting place at her farm for brainstorming issues of climate change and mitigation measures.
Ms Pirreli who has been conserving 20 acres of forest for the last two decades said the conference hall at her La’ Magiro farm is open for all government officials, policymakers, conservationist organizations so as to exchange ideas on how to reduce the effects of the climate change.
She said the facilities donated to her by Million Foot Prints an NGO from the United States will be free of charge and appealed to Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko to plan a visit to the area and see how conservation has made a difference in an area that has witnessed mass destruction of trees.
Speaking to a journalist at the meeting place Ms Pirrelli said it was wrong for government officials to come up with decisions without engaging other stakeholders as it is what has contributed to the degradation of forests leading to the drought that is being witnessed in the country.
"Let's say it's a brainstorming place, that's why I like calling it, because I want to ask the departments am working with very nicely education, health, environment, forestry, KWS, NEMA, Agriculture and Police, to please come together sometimes before they make a decision to bring it out in public," she said.
She said in Kilifi county some years ago a decision was made without engaging stakeholders that allowed Komaza trees to be planted all over and have contributed a lot to degradation.
Currently, she said the drought situation in Ganze and other parts of Kilifi county is worse and people are really suffering.
In her area, she said the drought will hit very soon if people will not work together to address the challenges facing the communities around.
She said locals are faced with water problems which makes conservation efforts expensive as planting trees without watering them normally fails.
"Here we have to carry water every day to water the trees until they grow big, we have challenges here like the eucalyptus trees that were planted nearby which are drying the land, I told them many years not to plant those trees but a lot of people did not listen to me," she said.
She said it’s time all the departments worked together instead of making decisions individually because they feel they are right or have been compromised by certain foreign companies who give money.
She said not everything that is given for free is good and urged authorities to reject some offers which may have negative repercussions to the environment.
Pirelli said the environment was now suffering horribly and warned that if people will not come together to brainstorm about the problems there would be a serious problem.
The 75-year-old conservationist said maintaining her forest for the last 20 years has not been an easy task.
She said there is a lot of noise pollution around her area caused by Disco Matanga and church music which affects birds, insects among other creatures.
Pirelli said locals have been giving her trouble as they normally invade her forest to cut trees after they exhausted almost all the trees around.
"I say don't cut my trees because these are my children and I have been watching them for 20 years to make them grow even five metres then somebody comes and cuts them I don't think this is very fair," she said.
She also called on the agriculture department to help her address the problem of fires as locals burn their land whenever they clear them and are about to plant as it could spread to the forest.
To her, everybody was burning and endangering the only forest that was left in the area which has taken over 20 years to be where it is.
*This article was written by Ramadhan Kambi for Uzalendo News. Email: uzalendonews24@gmail.com to submit your story.
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