- Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko in February said the KFS collected more than Sh3 billion from forests and forest resources in 2017.
- Nominated MP Gideon Keter said commercialisation of forest reserves is to blame for the destruction of the environment.
- A principal in a Makueni County school said firewood now costs three times its price just a few months ago.
A cook uses firewood to prepare lunch for Naromoru Township Primary pupils in Nyeri County on June 27, 2016. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
14.April 2018
Life has not been smooth for thousands of people and institutions who depend on forests since the ban on logging came into effect in February.
Schools, hospitals, the National Youth Service, prisons, saw millers, tea factories, the construction industry, wood carvers, Kenya Defence Forces and Kenya Forest Service are among the institutions badly hit by the ban.
According to a KFS official, around 1.5 million people who depend on forest resources have been affected by the moratorium.
“KFS revenues have plunged,” the officer, who did not wish to be named, told the Nation.
He added that the organisation gets an estimated Sh4.5 billion annually from forests and forest resources.
“We rely a lot on mature trees but revenues have gone down since the ban took effect,” he said.
The low collections may hit the more than 5,000 KFS workers, including 2,800 rangers, hard.
FIREWOOD
Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko in February said the agency collected more than Sh3 billion from forests and forest resources in 2017.
Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko in February said the agency collected more than Sh3 billion from forests and forest resources in 2017.
Schools, the military, hospitals, NYS and prisons use firewood to prepare meals.
“Some schools ended first term early because they lacked firewood. There will be a crisis in second term if the ban on logging is not lifted because teachers do not know where to get firewood,” a board member of a city school said.
A principal in a Makueni County school said firewood now costs three times its price just a few months ago.
“We used to get a truckload of firewood at Sh7,000 but it has shot up to Sh18,000. We are considering turning to gas,” the head teacher said.
He added that school budgets will go up since the moratorium also affects construction.
“Timber is a key component of construction. Schools are suffering,” he said, adding that locals were taking advantage of the ban since many pay fees in kind.
FOREST COVER
They take firewood to school instead of cash.
They take firewood to school instead of cash.
Saw millers say they have lost billions of shillings in just a month.
The ban on logging was meant to control depletion of forests.
Businesspeople now want the government to come clean on the ban.
“Authorities should specify which forest lands are covered by the ban,” Mr Joseph Koech, the vice chairperson of saw millers from Kuresoi South, North and Narok County said.
During an interview on Friday, Mr Koech said registered saw millers in the association have lost almost Sh50 million in one month.
He said the government should not ban logging on private land.
“There is a difference between community, government and private land. The orders were abrupt," he said.
“We were not made aware. The government should have given a notice to enable us get the logs and trees we had already felled.”
BUSINESS
Mr Koech added that the logs are being destroyed by insects and rain while others have been stolen.
Mr Koech added that the logs are being destroyed by insects and rain while others have been stolen.
He accused State officials enforcing the ban through harassment, saying they have been invading private land and carting away logs.
“We don’t know where they are taking them. Why are Administration Police officers trespassing on private property yet it is farmers who planted the trees on their pieces of land?” he asked.
Mr Casper Ng’etich, a member of the sacco, said the logs were becoming valueless.
“Some saw millers bought logs and split them. The timber is now losing value,” he said.
The millers say the ban left them confused as there was no official communication from KFS.
“We went to the concerned offices but they told us that they were not involved in the ban,” Mr Ng’etich said.
LOSSES
They now want the National Assembly and Senate to compel Mr Tobiko to allow the collection of logs felled on private lands before the ban came into effect.
They now want the National Assembly and Senate to compel Mr Tobiko to allow the collection of logs felled on private lands before the ban came into effect.
“We handed a petition to the National Assembly through Nominated MP Gideon Keter,” Rural Saw millers Association chairman Samuel Cherorot said.
According to the petition, security officers have been using the ban to brutalise millers.
They cite the demolition of a wooden structure by an deputy county commissioner.
They also claim police officers have been harassing carpenters found with fresh timber.
“Saw millers risk losing plots, livestock, machinery and other property to banks and other financial institutions as we cannot service our loans,” the petition adds.
PERMITS
According to the saw millers, loggers destroying Mau Forest are outsiders “who obtain permits illegally”.
According to the saw millers, loggers destroying Mau Forest are outsiders “who obtain permits illegally”.
“The intention of the ban was good but we are being punished for the mess created by others,” Mr Koech, a former Kiptagich councillor, said.
He added that people who depend on forest resources are not able to buy food, pay school fees or meet other family requirements.
Mr Keter blamed KFS “for giving logging permits to more than two companies owned by one corrupt person at the expense of locals”.
He said commercialisation of forest reserves is to blame for the destruction of the environment, adding that no local has ever been given a licence “yet they have been protecting the trees they planted”.
“After the ban, we demand that 70 per cent of the allotted trees be given to locals for they understand the importance of conserving the environment,” he said.
The lawmaker said in order to ensure sustenance of conservation efforts, KFS should begin civic education and inform residents on the dangers of farming close to river banks.
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