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Forest carve-up
unites Kenya
James Astill in Nairobi
Guardian
Saturday March 17, 2001
Environmentalists have won a stay of execution against Nairobi's
plan to give away 10% of its remaining forests.
The plan to parcel off 67,000 hectares (170,000 acres) of forest
reserve has united a normally split tribal society and brought
environmentalists, farmers, journalists and opposition politicians
together in horror and disbelief.
Yesterday, the last day for public objections to the plan, the
Centre for Human Rights and Democracy won a three-week stay in court
in Eldoret, central Kenya, forcing a government rethink of the plan.
The environment minister, Francis Nyenze, defended the project as an
attempt to redefine forest boundaries in areas occupied by squatters
and to prevent further encroachment. But aerial surveys by the Kenya
Wildlife Service show that most of the forest is unsettled.
Opponents claim the resultant deforestation would have a
catastrophic effect on Kenya's water supply because of the finely
balanced ecology.
The vast majority of Kenya is either semi-arid or desert, and
dependent on water from a few scattered catchments in the
mountainous areas .
About 15% of the Mau forest reserve in western Kenya is scheduled
for clearance, despite its being the source of an estimated 40% of
the country's water. Illegal logging to the east has already laid
bare the source of the Njoro river, now dry for half the year.
The government giveaway, timber and all, would represent a capital
loss of an estimated £1.7bn, even before the expected environmental
costsare taken into account.
"It is very hard to see how the government can gain from the
plan, unless there is a hidden agenda," said Michael Gachanja,
coordinator of the Kenya Forest Working Group.
With a national election due next year, such an agenda is widely
being interpreted as election largesse.
"Land is now the most valuable patronage resource available,"
said John Githongo, head of the anti-corruption watchdog
Transparency International. "It's a safe assumption this is
politically motivated."
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