Coast region based environmentalists have faulted President William Ruto’s move to lift the ban on logging which was put in place by his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta.
The environmentalists argued that the move would accelerate deforestation and the efforts put in place to conserve and preserve the environment will go to waste.
According to Bosco Juma, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bigship – an environmental establishment based in Mombasa – the effects of logging will be detrimental to the environment.
“The drop of forest covers from 30 to 10 percent which is against the law contributed to the enactment of the moratorium against logging by previous government. This was a significant effort by the government to ensure that the environment was preserved and minimize the adverse effects of climate change,” Juma said.
“This move will retrogressively undermine the efforts made the previous regime to protect the environment. After lifting the ban on logging I hope the government will follow the regulations put in place on logging so that we don’t reduce forest covers even much further,” he further argued.
Petitions have been raised concerning the logging of mature trees.
Vuma Earth, an environmental establishment, has directed their petition to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate change and Forestry Soipan Tuya.
The organization argued that lifting the ban will only undo all the significant progress they have made, by opening these community forests to commercial and illegal logging, hell bent on clearing the forests for profit.
While announcing the lifting of the ban, Ruto argued that prohibition hindered wood entrepreneurs like carpenters from earning a living from locally available timber.
“There was a certain minister who maliciously barricaded the activity of lumbering, timber ended up decaying in the forest instead of being put to good use, leaving our people suffering in quest for timber. We have removed all those restrictions and we are committed to going towards this direction with a proper plan in place,” the president said.
The move by the president to lift the ban contradicts with government’s ambition of planting approximately 15 billion trees by 2032 that would help with environmental conservation.
