Kenyan president under fire for lifting ban on logging

In a blow to environmental protection, Kenyan President William Ruto has lifted a six-year ban on logging and come under fire by environmentalists.

“We can’t have mature trees rotting in forests while locals suffer due to lack of timber," Ruto was quoted as saying by NTV Kenya.

His announcement was given in a speech at a church ceremony in the city of Molo, causing a shock to environmentalists who voiced their concerns. 

“There is an evident lack of goodwill in implementing the existing policies on illegal logging. By lifting this ban, President Ruto has prioritized profit over people and nature. The ban on logging in public and community forests should not be based on monetary value, but rather on restoring our natural forests with indigenous trees,” Greenpeace Africa’s community manager, Tracy Makheti, said in a statement. 

Greenpeace Africa accused Ruto of going back on his promise last year of increasing tree cover by 30 percent by 2032. The organization launched a petition directed to the Kenyan Soipan Tuya, the Cabinet Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forestry asking to stop the ban on logging from being lifted.

Although Ruto’s decision contradicts his previous pledges regarding the protection and management of forests, he said, “We remain committed to being in the frontline in sustainable land use and the conservation, protection, management and restoration of forests,” according to the official Kenyan presidency website.

Kenya has lost 50,700 hectares of the humid primary forest over a period of 20 years, which represents 14 percent of its tree cover loss, according to data from Global Forest Watch.

Other environmentalists and climate leaders like Elizabeth Wathuti, the founder of the Green Generation Initiative (GGI), spoke about the threats of releasing carbon dioxide from the trees if they are logged, as trees are considered carbon sinks.

“As long as trees survive, they retain carbon within them, and trees can live for extended periods, spanning decades or even centuries. Trees act as natural ‘carbon sinks’,” Wathuti posted on Twitter.

Regarding Kenya’s lifting of a 6-year ban on logging, here’s my personal view.

Thread1️⃣
Planting trees aid in mitigating climate change, but cannot single-handedly reverse it. We must also safeguard ecosystems and stop deforestation that reverse tree growing efforts.
How & why👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/CDJciXMHE4

— Elizabeth Wathuti 🇰🇪 (@lizwathuti) July 3, 2023

Also, the Friends of Lake Turkana voiced their concerns that the decision “threatens to jeopardize the fragile balance that exists within our ecosystems.”

“The regulations on sustainable forestry in Kenya have been historically weak, and the exclusion of community-led efforts is troubling. We fear that the situation will only worsen risking our biodiversity, livelihoods, rivers, wildlife, and our environment,” the foundation added on its official Twitter page.