In a recent development, President William Ruto made a surprising announcement, lifting the six-year ban on logging and tree harvesting in Kenya. Ruto expressed his concern over the sight of rotting trees in the forest while people were suffering from hunger and financial hardships.
However, this decision received significant criticism from environmentalists who fear that it will undo the progress made in the restoration of Kenya’s forests, which were once rapidly declining. Despite these concerns, their warnings seemed to fall on deaf ears.
In the past few weeks, tree harvesting has escalated dramatically, with loggers eagerly taking advantage of the newfound freedom. Armed with their tools, they have been actively exploiting the forests, aiming to maximize their gains. This alarming situation was captured in a viral video clip that caught the attention of renowned lawyers, Dr. Miguna Miguna and Ahmednasir Abdullahi.
Taking to Twitter, the two legal experts expressed their deep concern over this reckless move. They emphasized that if left unchecked, this rampant deforestation would rapidly deplete Kenya’s forest cover—a hard-earned achievement that the country had worked tirelessly to establish.
The lawyers’ intervention highlights the urgent need for effective measures to curb the indiscriminate logging and tree harvesting. Without swift action, Kenya risks losing its precious forests and the invaluable ecological services they provide, exacerbating the environmental challenges already faced by the nation.
“Deforestation on an INDUSTRIAL SCALE!” Ahmednasir Abdullahi reacted.
“Nooooo! Stop this reckless destruction of forests! These heartless loggers won’t replace the forests they are destroying by planting even a single seedling!” Dr Miguna Miguna reacted.
“Dear @KeForestService; President @WilliamsRuto lifted the logging ban, for good reasons. But please manage this exercise. It should NOT be a free fall for everyone. Please regulate it.
☆ Otherwise why target 15 billion trees if we are destroying the existing resource this fast? @HonTuya @Environment_Ke @Cofek_Africa @KaranjaNjoroge @KEFRIHQ” Stephen Mutoro.
by: DrArogo