Kenya Shuts Forests to Loggers
11/11/99
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Title: KENYA Shuts Forests to Loggers
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 11, 1999
NAIROBI, Kenya, November 11, 1999 (ENS) - Sawmillers in the Elburgon
area of Kenya were caught by surprise Monday, when their truck
drivers were barred from entering logging areas, according to The
Nation daily newspaper. The wood products companies were caught in a
dilemma caused by a countrywide ban on logging in government forests.
Forest guards turned away more than 100 tractors and trucks from
entering the forests. The sawmillers were given no warning, and the
cut trees still lie on the forest floor.
The sawmillers said that they would be forced to lay off all their
employees within the next few days when they run out of logs. Many
have taken out loans to buy saw machinery and tractors. Some invested
several million shillings for each modern band saw machine purchased.
Tree harvesting has been banned in Nakuru District forests and the
government has posted armed guards at forest entry points for
enforcement of the ban, which covers all government forests
countrywide.
More than 60 percent of the government forests in Kenya are found in
this Rift Valley Province. The province earns about Sh$90 million
annually from the sale of forest produce.
The Elburgon region has 23 sawmills employing more than 1,500 people,
including those working in the logging areas. In the last six years,
thousands of families have settled in the Mau forest, exerting great
pressure on the Lake Nakuru water catchment area.
Forests such as Teret, Sururu, Likia, Elburgon, and Molo have been
cleared to pave way for the settlements. Some of the settlers who
were allocated land in the forests have been selling the trees from
their plots to sawmillers, denying the government income from the
logging trade.
The government has cut down the number of sawmills in a bid to slow
the rate of logging. From 1995 to 1996, the number of sawmills was
reduced from 221 to 171.
The trees to feed these mills, mainly cypress and pine, were being
harvested from the Mariashoni, Kiptunga, Barget, and Elburgon
forests.