UNEP Chief Warns of Repercussions of Loss of Kenyan Forest
10/22/98
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Title: UNEP Chief Warns of Repercussions of Loss of Kenyan Forest
Source: Agence France-Presse
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 10/22/98
NAIROBI, Oct 22 (AFP) - UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Executive Director Kalus Toepfer warned on Thursday of serious
environmental implications if the destruction of the Karura Forest
is allowed to go further.
Toepfer, who is also acting executive director of the UN Centre
for Human Settlements (Habitat), said "the destruction should not go
further as the loss of this valuable ecosystem will have serious
environmental implications."
Repeating his view that Karura Forest south of Nairobi was a
precious natural resource the city cannot afford to lose, Toepfer
said, again, that both UNEP and Habitat were ready to provide
technical assistence to the Kenyan government "to ensure the
sustainable development of Nairobi".
"Both Habitat and UNEP have the experience and resources to
provide technical assistance in the form of mapping and preparation
of environmental profiles, guiding negotiations between
stakeholders, brokering agreements and providing technical input
into the preparation of a strategic development plan for the city,"
Toepfer said.
"We are ready to work with the government, the Nairobi City
Council and concerned non-governmental organisations (NGOs),"
Toepfer said in a statement here at the opening of a two-day meeting
of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN).
Toepfer, who was reacting to Kenyan Local Authorities Minister
Sam Ongeri's calls for cooperation in the protection of the
environment in urban centres, appealed to the government and people
of Kenya to "sincerely protect Kenya's rich natural heritage, not
only the Karura Forest, but also other forest ecosystems for the
benefit of present and future generations."
Last Saturday, Kenyan riot police prevented members of
parliament and environmental activists from planting trees at Karura
forest, where developers have plans to build a housing estate.
The security men had arrived at the forest early and cordoned
off the area, prompting Green Belt Movement coordinator Wangari
Maathai, MPs Paul Muite and Beth Mugo and several environmental
activists to camp at the gate for up to five hours. The riot police
maintained they had strict orders not to allow anyone into the
forest.
The Green Belt Movement had brought 1,500 seedlings to the site
on Friday with the intention of planting them on Saturday.
The police move angered the environmentalists, who demanded to
know why police had been deployed to seal off the forest, which they
alleged had been obtained corruptly by the developers.
The previous week, a group of opposition politicians and
activists led by Maathai and Muite, and accompanied by a large
crowd, stormed the forest and razed property worth 80 million
shillings (1.3 million dollars) belonging to a contractor hired by
the developers to build a residential estate.
Kenyan Environment Minister Francis Nyenze meanwhile pledged
Thursday that consultations would start very soon to come up with
some recommendations.
The gazetted Karura Forest, which borders the UN compound in
Nairobi, covers an area of just over 1,000 hectares and serves as a
water catchment area for the Thigiri, Karura, Ruiraka and Gitathuru
rivers on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital.
The forest also acts as an all important "lung" for the city,
helping to clear the of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.