Saw millers at Chirovani in Kakamega Forest on February 2018 prepare to transport their timber for sale. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
14.April 2018
Kakamega Forest is Kenya’s only remaining portion of tropical rainforest.
It has rare tree species that timber barons know they can get for a song and sell for a fortune. And in recent years, their appetite has been insatiable.
Under the guise of cutting exotic trees, the barons compete for the biggest and most valuable logs.
Forest guards look the other way, explaining that the felling of trees follows legal procedure. After all, most of the loggers are licensed.
Kakamega was once part of the African rainforest that stretched from the Atlantic coast across the continent to the Indian Ocean.
Today, only the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a vast area of this forest, but which is also under pressure from timber merchants from as far away as Europe and the Americas.
Kenya’s tiny portion in Kakamega is getting devastated by loggers, both licensed and illegal.
LICENSING
Under the watch of foresters, indigenous trees continue to be cut as the blame game on who is behind it goes on.
Under the watch of foresters, indigenous trees continue to be cut as the blame game on who is behind it goes on.
Some saw millers accuse their competitors of using their legal permits to harvest indigenous trees.
The forest is of great significance to the local community – it provides firewood, grazing land, medicinal plants and other resources.
To officials of the Kenya Forest Service, the barons are faceless since the applications are only done in Nairobi.
To be prequalified, a saw miller has to pay Sh30,000 to the Kenya Forest Service and get an allocation of exotic forest.
But many fault the procedure used to allocate portions of tree plantations for harvesting, terming it unfair.
APPLICANTS
For example, Mr Rogers Matsili, a local saw miller from Shinyalu, said he was allocated a portion measuring 1.50 hectares of pine plantation containing 300 trees.
For example, Mr Rogers Matsili, a local saw miller from Shinyalu, said he was allocated a portion measuring 1.50 hectares of pine plantation containing 300 trees.
For this, he paid Sh481,675 inclusive of government taxes.
“I had applied for a portion with 1,000 to 1,500 trees but I was disappointed with what I got. It’s very difficult to break even because of the small portions of plantations we are allocated,” Mr Matsili said.
With all applications for tree felling approved in Nairobi, KFS officials in Kakamega are not willing to share the details on the licensed saw millers.
It is this secrecy that shields the identity of companies that are involved in the destruction of Kakamega Forest. Some are actually poachers.
Locals complain that the licensing tends to favour established saw millers from elsewhere.
BAN
All saw millers irrespective of where they come from, they argue, should be given equal chance to compete and make profits from the timber business to enable them plough back some of their earnings in support of tree planting to rehabilitate the forest.
The recent ban on logging has its own victims.
Ms Mabel Nyikuli, a saw miller from Kakamega Central, obtained a Sh1.5 million loan from a bank to support her timber business.
“I do not know how I will repay my loan since trees I had harvested are rotting in the forest,” she said.
The trader says there should be transparency in the allocation of tree plantations for harvesting to enable saw millers recover money they have invested in the businesses and earn some profit to sustain their livelihoods.
REPLANTING
In interviews with the Nation, local saw millers said their competitors should be monitored closely to ensure they operate within set guidelines and provisions of the law and if found in breach, they should be fined heavily and their licences cancelled.
In interviews with the Nation, local saw millers said their competitors should be monitored closely to ensure they operate within set guidelines and provisions of the law and if found in breach, they should be fined heavily and their licences cancelled.
“We are so frustrated since we are allocated small portions containing 180 to 300 trees yet we have capacity to pay for more trees. This is hurting our operations and undermining our businesses,” Mr Matsili said.
Tree plantations, comprising exotic species, are harvested after attaining maturity at 30 - 35 years.
The saw millers contribute part of the income to buy tree seedlings for replanting in the forest.
The frustration building on the part of some saw millers is working as a catalyst for illegal activities leading to wanton destruction of the forest.
ALLOCATION
While KFS says that some saw millers lack capacity to harvest large portions, it is not clear in the blame game on who is cutting down the indigenous forest.
While KFS says that some saw millers lack capacity to harvest large portions, it is not clear in the blame game on who is cutting down the indigenous forest.
The process of getting the licence is open – and only turns opaque at the issuance stage.
After traders pay the Sh30,000 fee, the authorisation letters are signed by the KFS director and copied to regional Head of Conservancy.
After receiving the letters, saw millers are then allocated plantations based on the amount they have paid before they start harvesting.
“The whole process is handled at KFS headquarters and is geared at ensuring that government revenue is not lost or held up due to the inability by saw millers to pay up,” Mr John Gachihi, the western region Head of Conservancy, said.
Mr Gachihi said tree valuation is done to establish their cost and the portions are marked out for allocation to individual millers.
REVENUE
A task force recently formed to investigate the decimation of forests was told that foresters allocate more trees to saw millers than they had paid for and that there was unfairness in the allocations.
A task force recently formed to investigate the decimation of forests was told that foresters allocate more trees to saw millers than they had paid for and that there was unfairness in the allocations.
Again, money paid to KFS could not be accounted for.
But Mr Gachihi said the valuation of the plantations is meticulously done to establish how much revenue the government will make in each of the forests.
Ordinarily, a felling plan indicating the trees to be cut ought to be developed before harvesting is done.
Alternately, thinning of dead or weak trees is done to create room for the trees to grow and attain maturity to enable the government fetch full returns from the revenue collected.
Failure to use new technology is a key factor in the losses some millers — especially local ones — incur.
They have been asked to buy wood-mizer, a popular wood-working machine, to improve efficiency and minimise losses.
EQUIPMENT
Experts say that the machines, although expensive, give the operators an edge in the business because of the precision with which they are able to produce timber while minimising on wastage, costs and labour.
But many local saw millers are yet to acquire the equipment due to the prohibitive cost and their operational capacity.
Thus, only the established millers from outside the region have subsequently moved to exploit the existing opportunities for timber production.
“It is unfortunate that the saw millers from Kakamega County are yet to invest in modern equipment and instead of relying on circular saws for timber, which are uneconomical,” Mr Gachihi said.
On the flip side, the saw millers with modern equipment appear to focus more on the incomes and profits they generate after harvesting the trees without providing support for replanting to sustain the forest cover.
KAKAMEGA FOREST
KFS has enlisted the support of communities and volunteer scouts to help patrol the vast forest and monitor illegal activities involving cutting of indigenous trees for timber and charcoal.
The other problem that has put pressure on Kakamega Forest is failure by KFS to give Kakamega County-based saw millers licences to operate in neighbouring Uasin Gishu and Nandi.
“It is strange that other saw millers from all over the country are licensed to operate in Kakamega County when we are being discriminated against in other counties. What is happening is unacceptable,” Mr Matsili said.
Kakamega Forest covers 15, 274 hectares comprising 13,699.1 hectares of natural forest and 1,580 hectares of plantation.
The Isecheno nature reserve occupies 138 hectares while the Yala river nature reserve is 538 hectares.
The Nyayo tea belt covers 431.4 hectares of what used to be forest land.
According to the 2017-2018 prescribed annual clear felling plan for the forest, 462 hectares of tree plantation will be cut after attaining maturity.
REHABILITATION
Some Kakamega County leaders have raised concern over saw millers suspected of involvement in wanton destruction of indigenous trees for timber.
Some Kakamega County leaders have raised concern over saw millers suspected of involvement in wanton destruction of indigenous trees for timber.
Shinyalu MP Justus Mugali has been spearheading the onslaught to stop the millers from harvesting trees on a 22.1 hectares plantation in the forest.
Mr Patrick Imbiakha, a saw miller from Shinyalu, echoed sentiments of others, saying all parts of the forest should be replanted with trees after harvesting of the mature ones.
“First, we want allocation of the plantations to be done in a transparent and fair manner to all firms prequalified for harvesting of mature trees. That way we will play a meaningful role in replanting to ensure the forest is protected for posterity,” he said.
MANAGEMENT
Apart from saw millers, eight other firms, which include tea and sugar factories, have been licensed to harvest forest resources for fuel wood.
Apart from saw millers, eight other firms, which include tea and sugar factories, have been licensed to harvest forest resources for fuel wood.
Different sets of licences are issued to individuals and firms.
The licences include those for grazing of livestock, firewood for domestic use by families living near the forest and charcoal burning.
Saw millers applying for timber licences are required to own machinery and a yard for their operations in addition to other conditions set out for prequalified firms in the business.
On paper, an integrated management plan of the forest involves harvesting of exotic trees after 30 years, referred to as clear fell of the plantation.
This is supposed to be followed by replanting by the harvesters. At best, they do nothing.
Some of the saw millers said they were ready to start tree nurseries for replanting in the forest.
Last month, KFS deputy chief conservator of Forestry, Mr Patrick Kariuki, and Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Mr William Kiprono, helped plant 10,000 tree seedlings at Senende in Kakamega Forest, which had been laid bare after harvesting by saw millers.
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