This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
Menengai forest, a major tourist attraction and home to the world-renowned Menengai crater and a Sh60 billion geothermal plant, is set to lose a significant portion of its natural forest cover.
According to The Standard, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has decided to clear over 1,500 acres of indigenous trees at Menengai forest to accommodate farmers under the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (Pelis).
The forest, which has been considered a buffer zone between Lake Nakuru National Park and the rapidly expanding Nakuru town since 1930, is fronted by Milimani Estate in the South, Ngachura and Bahati in the East, Solai in the North, and Olo-Rongai in the West.
Conservationists have warned that clearing huge swathes of the natural forest would be an environmental disaster, citing the area's susceptibility to landslides and fault lines.
“Felling of these trees and shrubs that hold the soil in the area together is calling for disaster. The forest is also home to wildlife and burrowing animals. Replacing the natural cover with exotic trees amounts to doing away with the area’s ecosystem,” said Miheso Musindi, secretary of Milimani Residents Association.
However, the KFS has defended the decision, citing the challenges of protecting the natural forest from fires and loggers with inadequate staff.
“The challenge with Menengai forest is illegal logging and forest fires. The shrubs and a few indigenous tree species are susceptible to forest fires and we are replacing them with bluegum. The area is under Pelis,” said Erastus Mugo, the forest station manager.
But residents have poked holes into the KFS argument, pointing out that the indigenous trees cover has over the years survived forest fires, intense logging, and landslides.
A 2018 report on the status of forests in Kenya revealed that Pelis was the most abused scheme in the sector and that it contributed to the declining indigenous forest cover in the country.
