'Old Africa' for December 2020 and January 2021 has arrived ...
... and among the reviews, I saw one for a book called 'Peacocks and Picathartes'. I knew that peafowl occurred in India, and that one species also occurred in central Africa. Picathartes was a species of bird I had first heard of many years ago on a David Attenborough TV programme .... which it had taken him over 25 years to see in the wild ! How could I possibly resist this book ?!
The other book, 'Home Going' I had heard reviewed on the BBC World Service one night when I couldn't sleep .... it is two parallel stories of sisters beginning in Ghana .... one sold into slavery, the other a slave trader's wife. It follows their descendents in the Gold Coast and on to Mississippi over two hundred years. It came two days ago, and am already half way through it !
Another book I ordered at the same time has yet to come ... 'Kenya Kaleidoscope' ....
Marooned giraffes, fleeing flamingoes and stranded impalas: in recent years the rising water levels in east Africa’s Rift Valley lakes have become the norm, displacing people, threatening wildlife and submerging schools and hotels.
The gradual rise was first noticed 10 years ago but was accelerated by heavy rains in 2019, according to Kenya’s principal secretary in the ministry of environment and forestry, Chris Kiptoo.
This year Lake Turkana, the northernmost lake in Kenya, was six metres deeper than usual by November. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has described the threat to the lake as “critical”. Its 2020 conservation outlook, published this month warns: “Lake Turkana’s unique qualities as a large lake in a desert environment are under threat as the demands for water for development escalate and the financial capital to build major dams becomes available.”
Experts have also expressed fears that two other Rift Valley lakes, Baringo and Bogoria, could merge with catastrophic ecological consequences. Comparative images taken by Nasa’s Earth Observatory in 2013 and 2020 show heavy deposits of sediment along the edges of the two lakes that are now 13km (8 miles) apart, down from 20km.
A government spokesman says Lake Baringo has expanded from 176 sq km (67 sq miles) to 260 sq km, while Bogoria has expanded from 34 sq km to 45 km sq. “Lake Bogoria National Reserve … has experienced a change in the lake ecosystem, leading to marked reduction in the number of flamingos from 1.5 million to fewer than 100,000.”
Lake Baringo is a freshwater habitat that hosts fish, Nile crocodiles, and hippos. Local people rely on its water for domestic use and farming. Lake Bogoria is alkaline and home to thousands of flamingoes that depend on the blue-green algae thriving in its waters. The hot water geysers and hot springs that used to attract tourists to the region lie buried underneath.
“Should the two lakes ever merge, fresh water from Baringo would dilute the alkali in Bogoria and reduce the growth of algae,” says Mark Boitt, a geographic information system expert. “Several years ago, a similar rise in the waters of Lake Nakuru caused millions of flamingoes to flee the lake for Bogoria. But for how long can they keep on moving? We stand at the threshold of rapid loss of biodiversity around the lakes.”
Already, the rising water levels in Baringo have affected wild animals residing on the lake’s Longcharo island as the waters reduce the size of the island and the areas for them to forage. In September, wildlife authorities relocated ostriches, impalas and warthogs to a conservancy on the mainland. Earlier this month, two of the eight giraffes marooned on the island were also moved to safety.
Several years ago, flamingoes fled the rising waters of Lake Nakuru. Now their numbers are dropping on Lake Bogoria. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters
“Moving a giraffe is a delicate process. We have to survey the habitat and make sure we anchor the barge in a manner that makes it easy for the giraffes to enter without causing them unnecessary stress,” says Jackson Komen, a warden for the Kenya Wildlife Service in Baringo. “It took a whole day just to move one giraffe, with the barge taking at least two hours to get to the mainland. The remaining ones, including some pregnant females, will be moved a little later.”
The government has appointed a multi-agency technical committee to investigate the cause of rising water levels in the lakes, with the final report due for release in the coming days.
Silas Simiyu, a local geologist, says human activity around the water catchment areas is a key reason for the rising water levels.
“We may be talking of increased water volume but forget that it is the lakes’ capacity to hold water that has reduced. Water from underground aquifers has always risen depending on the tectonic movement cycles. But never have the lakes been silted as they are today,” says Simiyu. “Rather than act like deep bowls that can hold more water, the lakes are becoming wide, thin-rimmed pans due to siltation.”
A warden from the Kenya Wildlife Service walks on the flooded main road into Lake Nakuru National Park. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images
He says: “Some talk of increased rainfall, but the ongoing rains are not the heaviest to be witnessed in these areas. Let us accept that our own activities have exacerbated the problem.”
Susan Jepkemoi, an environmental scientist with the Great Rift Centre for Research and Development, says the population increase has come with demand for more farmland, and more people have settled close to the lakes.
“Change in land use without regard for the environment will have serious climatic consequences on these lakes,” she says. “People around the lakes continue to cut down trees for charcoal burning. This depletes the ground cover leading to flooding. The runoff water takes with it the top soil to the lakes, the lowest points in the Rift Valley, and leads to silting.”
The phenomenon has brought upheaval for local communities. As the water has pushed further inland, grazing fields have continued to shrink and churches, schools and hospitals that were in use at the start of the year now lie in ruins.
“Take a boat ride here and chances are that you will be riding on top of multi-storey buildings, the relics of a lost city,” says Francis Cherutich, a tour guide in Baringo.
For 83-year-old Kangogo Arap Kipotota, his small grocery shop at Kampi Ya Samaki township doubles as his home. His former house lies submerged several miles from the shop. He remembers the lake swelling in 1961, but nowhere near the current levels. Back then, it was a long walk to get to the lake. Now it is almost at his shop. Like other residents, he fears he may have to move to higher ground again.
“The lake was so far out that I would graze our sheep and goats beyond that tree,” he says, pointing to a tree trunk more than 500 metres from his shop. “We would walk in the shallow edges of the lake. You cannot try that now since crocodiles and hippos have become our closet neighbours.”
Both lakes are Important bird areas that attract thousands of ornithologists from all over the world. However, a 2019 assessment of Baringo and Bogoria by BirdLife International put their threat status as “very high”.
A fisherman paddles a traditional raft made from reeds past one of the submerged buildings of the Soi Safari Lodge hotel on the shores of Lake Baringo. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images
The local hospitality industry has also been hit hard by the rising waters. Hotels and lodges that relied on tourism have been either partly or completely submerged. At Soi Safari Lodge in Baringo, the only visible part of a hall styled after the traditional African hut is the roof. As recently as July, the building stood 800 metres away from the original lake’s shoreline.
“Covid-19 took away the hotel business. Now the lake has taken the hotel. And there seems to be no end to the lake’s encroachment on the properties,” says Peter Chebii, a manager at the hotel.
With no sign of the waters receding, Boitt warns: “We have failed to protect the environment and are now reaping the bitter fruits. We either reform or lose our livelihood when the land – laid bare through over-cultivation – fights back using the lakes. Only we can put on the brakes. But can we?”
Look to see the inaccuracies in the above news report.
Its single frames from a film; the cars were not moving (look at the position of the stones on the road); and its a bull, not a female .... he's almost certainly in musth .... his facial glands are oozing, and I think that's urine dribbling down his back legs .... both signs of a sexually aroused bull elephant !
But .... its not wise to get that close to an ellie at any time !
Thousands of girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation during a month long “cutting season” in west Kenya, activists have warned, amid fears the Covid lockdown has triggered a dramatic surge in new incidents.
Every day for almost four weeks roughly 100 girls have been pushed to undergo FGM - a dangerous non-medical practice where a girl's genitals are cut - in Kuria, a district on the Tanzanian border some 50 miles from Lake Victoria.
Girls as young as nine are dressed in patterned fabrics, tinsel and balloons and paraded through the streets, surrounded by a throng of dancing adults and children. Many men carry machetes to deter interventions.
“These parades are very loud, with music and dancing, but they are also very hostile,” says Natalie Robi Tingo, founder of Msichana Empowerment Kuria, an organisation working to end FGM. She estimates that around 2,800 girls have been cut over the last three and a half weeks.
“To begin with families were concealing the practice, but by the second and third week girls were being paraded openly on the streets as there had been no repercussions,” she adds. “I became an activist nine years ago and I have never seen anything like this - both in scale and visibility. It's heartbreaking.”
Kenya has been held as a “beacon of hope” amid efforts to eradicate cutting across the globe. The government made FGM illegal 10 years ago, while the President has committed to eradicate cutting by 2022.
But Ms Robi Tingo says the practice was pushed underground in some hotspots - including Kuria, West Pokot (in northwest Kenya) and Loita (south of Nairobi). The coronavirus pandemic has provided cover for FGM to resurface on a huge scale.
“School closures mean children are at home all day, so parents have an opportunity to cut girls without worrying that it will be noticed,” Ms Robi Tingo says. “Normally cutting takes place during the school holidays in November and December, but this year we've seen it happen in April too - and now.”
Instability has also contributed to the surge. Some community elders have reportedly blamed Covid-19 on a failure to uphold traditions, including FGM, that are believed to appease the gods, while families in dire economic straits are cutting their daughters to gain a higher “bride price”.
Female genital mutilation | The facts
Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women and the United Nations recognises the practice as "a violation of the human rights, the health and the integrity of girls and women". It can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15 The practice is recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women FGM is outlawed in half of the 30 countries where it is most prevalent yet there have been few prosecution Delays in anti-FGM programmes due to the coronavirus pandemic means that two million girls who would otherwise be safe from the practice could be at risk over the next decade, according to the UNFPA, the United Nation's reproductive health agency.
Source: World Health Organization
“At a community level FGM is about financial incentives and gains,” says Nimco Ali, chief executive of The Five Foundation, The Global Partnership To End FGM. “When a young girl is cut it is not to protect against rape, as some claim, but to protect an asset - her virginity - so you can sell her at a higher price.”
FGM is also lucrative for those behind the practice. Cutters are paid around 1,000 Kenyan shillings, about £7, for every procedure they perform and in some areas community elders get a percentage of this cash.
“So you can imagine right now when well over 2,000 girls have been cut, that means more than two million Kenyan shillings (around £14,000) has been collected,” says Ms Robi Tingo. “Many girls also receive small change or gifts at these parades, so there's some encouragement there too.”
Providing economic opportunities is central to ending the practice, lifting communities out of poverty and changing minds about the value of women, adds Ms Ali.
“We have to give women in Africa access to economic empowerment, education and sanitation to counter this, because right now they're being treated as a burden,” she says. “There's this idea they're only value is in being mutilated and sold into marriage. I'm not sure why this isn't shaking us to our core.”
Ms Ali - who was appointed by the UK government as an independent adviser on tackling violence against women earlier this month - adds that the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, should apply more pressure on Kenya to maintain vigilance around FGM, even as the pandemic draws attention and resources.
“Kenya is a commonwealth country and the UK is respected in Kenya,” she says. “We have a responsibility to help. I think we can offer a lifeline to these girls.”
Kenyans are reacting with anger to a video showing students being sprayed with disinfectant that they say could be harmful.
The issue highlights the dilemma facing schools in Kenya – and around the world – as they try to resume education in a way that does not risk the continued transmission of Covid-19.
As schools reopened Monday in Kenya, female students wearing face masks in one school appeared to be showered with disinfectant pumped from a pesticide sprayer, to the ire of parents online.
"How did adults sit down and decided that spraying children like this contains #Covid19? What happened to running water and soap?,”
Reacting to the outrage at the daily Covid-19 briefing on Tuesday, Dr Rashid Aman, the administrative secretary at the Kenyan health ministry warned schools against spraying methods. “Those chemicals should not be used on humans…only on surfaces,” he said.
Back in February in the early days of the coronavirus, students at a Lebanese school were sprayed in a similar manner to the annoyance of many.
In an update to its Covid-19 guidelines in May, the World Health Organization warned that spraying disinfectants which contain toxins on people could be “physically and psychologically harmful”.
Side effects could range from eye and skin irritation to gastrointestinal effects, according to the update. The Africa CDC also issued a report against the use of disinfection cubicles, an early Covid-19 innovation that was popular in African countries but that the agency said could expose people to harmful chemicals.
Kenyan schools opened back up this week after the government rescinded on July pronouncements that the school year would be scrapped altogether.
As readers know, I receive news from the Mill Hill Missionaries and from the Kenya newspapers, which keep me up to date with how Kenya and Africa are coping with Covid-19, the coronavirus pandemic. This caught my attention ....
Africa’s Astonishingly Low Covid-19 Death Rates Explained
Africa accounts for 17% of the global population but only 3.5% of the reported global COVID-19 deaths. All deaths are important, we should not discount apparently low numbers, and of course data collected over such a wide range of countries will be of variable quality, but the gap between predictions and what has actually happened is staggering. There has been much discussion on what accounts for this.
As leads of the COVID-19 team in the African Academy of Sciences, we have followed the unfolding events and various explanations put forward. The emerging picture is that in many African countries, transmission has been higher but severity and mortality much lower than originally predicted based on experience in China and Europe.
We argue that Africa’s much younger population explains a very large part of the apparent difference. Some of the remaining gap is probably due to under reporting of events but there are a number of other plausible explanations. These range from climatic differences, pre-existing immunity, genetic factors and behavioural differences.
That makes sense .... that younger populations don't get infected so easily, and we know that in Europe and the U.S., many people have existing health problems, such as diabetes and obesity, or are old, which makes them more likely to be easily infected with Covid-19.
The BBC has recently had many programmes on TV and the radio about the history of African writing .... books written by Africans, not by white writers writing about Africa. I am at present listening to one of Chinua Achebe's books on Radio 4.
I originally encountered books written by Africans in 1968, and this is the first one I bought:
The orange paperbacks, published by Heinemann Educational Books, were to become a familiar sight in Kenyan bookshops. Priced in the UK at 5s.6d, (or 7 Kenya shillings) I suppose they were out of reach of the average African student, but they soon appeared in most school libraries.
I quickly got 'hooked' and every trip to town I bought another, and eventually had quite a number ! I found some written by James Ngugi, a Kenyan writer, who later renamed himself Ngugi wa Thiongo. Some of these books I found quite disturbing, as they showed me how Africans viewed Europeans, and didn't always make pleasant reading, but then books written by Europeans about Africans must have been equally disturbing to African readers, when they dealt with topics like Mau Mau, and the independence struggles in most ex colonial countries.
Now, there are modern African writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writing about their own countries troubled past .... such as her book 'Half of a Yellow Sun', which is a novel about the Biafran war in the 1960's, and 'Purple Hibiscus' with its background of a military coup in Nigeria. She has won many literary prizes ....
.... and like Maaza Mengiste of Ethiopia and Tsitsi Dangarembga of Zimbabwe, both long-listed for the Booker this year, its time Adichie was also seen on the Booker lists.
Today In History: 60 Mill Hill pilgrims walk from Mombasa to Mengo
By Admin
Added 6th September 2020 05:04 PM
The pilgrimage was marking 100 years since the first Mill Hill missionary, Bishop Henry Hanlon arrived in Buganda.
50 days on foot. 60 pilgrims led by father Hans Burgman (centre in hat) walking on September 6,1995
Today in History (September 6, 1995)
Sixty Mill Hill mission pilgrims who trekked from Mombasa to the Buganda King's court at Mengo arrived at Bulange to a rousing welcome from Lukiiko members and a cross section of people.
Prince Lincoln Abraham Ndawula, Kabaka Mutebi's uncle, received the pilgrims on behalf of the King who was out of the country.
The pilgrims, led by Rev Father Hans Burgman, walked the 1,400km from the East African coast to Buganda in 50 days.
The pilgrimage was marking 100 years since the first Mill Hill missionary, Bishop Henry Hanlon arrived in Buganda.
The Pilgrimage was also in commemoration of September 6, 1895, the day Kabaka Mwanga met the early pilgrims in his court.
13 Pilgrims came from the Netherlands, four from England, two Ireland, two Scotland, four from Tyrol and 25 from Kenya.
Three issues of my favourite magazine, presumably Covid/flights from Kenya delayed, but they caught up with each other and all arrived together. I've emailed Shel Arensen, the editor, to tell him they are safely here.
Which to read first ? I've had a quick flick through .... I suppose I ought to read issue 88 first. I've spent many hours during Covid lock-down reading my way though all the old issues I have, and the Soysambu book I mentioned on another blog entry ....
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rift Valley, Kenya - It was seven years ago when Job Chebon, owner of a tourist lodge on the edge of Lake Baringo, first noticed the waters near his property rise dangerously.
"The water would come and then recede. For years, it would come a little bit further to dry land, to our homes, then go back," he said earlier in August, standing on a sandbag leading to the flooded reception lobby of his Soi Safari Lodge - at least, what remains of it.
"In 2020, it has come with a vengeance."
The rising waters of Lake Baringo in the Great Rift Valley have dealt a heavy blow to tourism, a key sector in this part of Kenya.
Chebon said he had lost thousands of dollars in accommodation fees and damage to his property, while several other hotels in the region have also been either totally or partially submerged. The tourism sector of the region has taken a huge hit [Daniel Munene/Al Jazeera]
Elizabeth Meyerhoff, a social scientist, who along her husband Murray Roberts, has been studying the lake since 2013, said the water level has been rising at about 2.5cm (0.98 inches) a day.
"In the last seven years, [it] has raised to about 9-12 metres (30-39 feet)."
The couple, who live next door to Chebon's lodge, have also been running a programme aimed at rehabilitating semi-arid environments by producing dry land seed which they have already distributed to more than 900 farmers.
Almost all the land where the grass, mostly meant for grazing was planted, is underwater. The couple’s stores, offices and a dispensary have had a similar fate.
"The water comes from the rivers, but because of deforestation it's bringing down huge amount of flash flooding with sediments which fill the bottom of the lake," said Meyerhoff, after a tour on a boat - a mode of transport that is the new norm in these parts of Baringo.
Climate change and unusually heavy rains this year have also contributed to the problem.
The rising waters have displaced more than 5,000 people in 2020, according to government officials, submerging homes, schools, roads, hospitals, farmland - and even entire islands. The rising waters of Lake Baringo have displaced thousands of people, submerging homes, roads and farmland among others [Daniel Munene/Al Jazeera]
"This island was whole, we could move around," said Nongaseuria Lenaisiaku, an elderly lady who has had to relocate to higher ground twice after Kokwa Island was split into three parts.
"Now the water has separated us from our relatives. I don't even have a boat take me to other parts of the village."
Nearby, in Rugus, another fishing village of mud-thatched huts, Singh Lenapunya was seated on his raft - scaling fish he had just caught. He acknowledged that the rising waters have brought along plenty of fish - but also crocodile and hippos. A herdsman was recently killed by a crocodile. Lake Bogoria rising
However, it is not just Lake Baringo and its dependents that are in trouble.
Further to the south, Lake Bogoria - a World Heritage site which at times hosts up to 1.2 million flamingoes - has also been rising. Just a few years ago, Baringo and Bogoria - freshwater and alkaline lakes, respectively - were 20km (12 miles) apart, but local officials say that distance has now been cut to 13km (eight miles).
Located on an eponymous national reserve, Lake Bogoria is a significant tourist attraction, whose hundreds of bird species and beautiful landscape, as well as geysers and hot springs, draw visitors from many parts of the world. Lake Bogoria is a major tourist attraction [Chaterine Wambua-Soi/Al Jazeera]
According to James Kimaru, the game reserve's senior warden, the lake has expanded from 34 square kilometres in 2017 to 43 square kilometres in 2020.
"Almost 80 percent of the hot springs are under water, especially the main ones which were shooting almost three metres up," said Kimaru. "They used to be our main tourist attraction but now the number of visitors has reduced. The main road, the gate to our reserve and our offices are under water - we have to move for a second time. The hospital, hotels and homes adjacent to the reserve are also submerged."
Meanwhile, there are growing concerns about the swamps between the lakes. Both Meyerhoff and Kimaru said if the alkaline water from Bogoria reached the swamps which link to Baringo's freshwater - it would be an ecological disaster.
With both lakes having no known channels that allow the flow of excess water, some scientists have suggested building a barrier between them. Others have recommended constructing a canal for water to flow out of Lake Baringo, which is rising faster. They say the water can be channelled through a natural course outlet further north.
It is still unclear, however, what the effect of such a move would be on Kenyan farmers and pastoralists downstream, as well as the lake itself.
Government officials told Al Jazeera they are examining these suggestions, while also carrying out a study to find out whether there are other reasons why the lakes are rising so fast to determine safe solutions to protect them and the millions of people whose lives are at stake.
Back in Soi Safari Lodge, Chebon said he is afraid that it is only a matter of time before his entire property - and with it, his entire livelihood - is swept away by the rising waters.
A new technology that brings on board volunteers to participate in Grevy’s zebra census is putting Kenya on the edge of conservation of critically endangered species.
The technology involves taking photographs of the species by volunteers, which are then loaded on to a database known as Wildbook that identifies and gives results of individual species. The volunteers are known as ‘citizen scientists’.
Kenya is home to over 95 per cent of the world’s Grevy’s zebras whose global population are estimated at 3,000. Involvement of citizen scientists has since seen Kenya mapping out slightly over 2,800 zebras. Grevy’s zebras are the largest of the three zebra species, including the plain and hybrid zebras. “Citizen scientists bring on board volunteers, including schoolchildren, wildlife enthusiasts, local communities, among others. They are required to take photographs of Grevy’s zebras to be used in a software that analyse and give results,” says Rosemary Warungu, Zebra project manager at Mpala Conservation Centre in Laikipia.
Wildbook is a software that helps in tracking individual animals in a wildlife population using natural markings while engaging citizen scientists to collect sighting information.
The incorporation of the technology places Kenya on the world map while raising awareness on the conservation of Grevy’s zebra.
The species, which originally inhabited five countries in Africa, now only exist in Kenya and Ethiopia. They are considered an endangered species, with hunting and habitat loss being the biggest challenges. Involving citizen scientists in national count of the species in Kenya first took place in 2016 in an initiative dubbed Great Grevy’s Rally. The rally, since its launch, has been conducted twice -- in 2018 and early this year. Wildbook, however, solved the challenge of counting the zebras, an exercise initially done manually on air.
“The Great Grevy’s Rally is often a biannual event where citizen scientists, conservancy managers, conservation organisations and government officials participate in the exercise within all the Grevy’s zebra ranges. This technology has been adopted here and solved the previous challenge,” Warungu said.
The technology comprises a database where all photos taken by citizen scientists are loaded. The system compares photos of the zebras to a database of previously recorded animals, thus saving researchers in the field weeks of manual work. In 2016, 25,000 photos were taken by citizen scientists in Kenya. The results from the images estimated the Grevy’s zebra population at 2,350. In 2018, 49,000 photos were taken.
Menengai is an extinct volcano of the edge of Nakuru town; we lived on the side of Menegai for several years, and know well the stony but fertile soil on its slopes .... our garden was mostly rough lava rocks and scrub !
Farmers cultivating a cleared section of Menengai Forest in Nakuru. Conservationists have warned against clearing swathes of indigenous trees in the forest.[Kipsang Joseph, Standard] Residents and conservationists have criticised a decision by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to clear more than 1,500 acres of indigenous trees at Menengai forest to accommodate farmers. The forest has since 1930 been considered a buffer zone between Lake Nakuru National Park and a rapidly expanding Nakuru town. It is fronted by Milimani Estate in the South, Ngachura and Bahati in the East, Solai in the North and Olo-Rongai in the West.
The Standard has established that some 1,526 acres of indigenous trees are being cleared to pave way for exotic bluegums to be cultivated under the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (Pelis), formerly known as the shamba system. The KFS has defended the decision. “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.
A number of residents and conservationists are, however, worried that the scheme will strip off Menengai hills of natural forest cover. Menengai is a major tourist attraction, being home to the world-renown Menengai crater and a Sh60 billion geothermal plant. Conservationists say clearing huge swathes of the natural forest would be an environmental disaster.
“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. According to Mr Miheso, the loose soils of Menengai make the area susceptible to landslides and fault lines and replacing the natural forest with exotic trees will expose neighbouring estates to danger and Lake Nakuru to siltation. “The decision to replace the indigenous tree species is worrying. It means that all the soil will be swept downstream to Lake Nakuru. There will be no control of water running downhill and this will cause more havoc,” he said.
However, KFS says the targeted area forms an insignificant part of the 14,864-acre forest. “The forest is zoned, with the natural forest covering 5,400 hectares (13,338 acres) and an exotic forest covering 618 ha (1,526 acres),” said Mugo.
Inadequate staff
He said protecting the natural forest from fires and loggers was challenging, especially with inadequate staff. “We have 12 officers tasked to take care of 13,338 acres,” he said. According to the KFS officer, bluegums would be easier to manage and more profitable. “Bluegums are more resistant to fire outbreaks. They also generate revenue,” he said.
But residents have poked holes into the KFS argument.
Benson Ng’ang’a said the indigenous trees cover has over the years survived forest fires, intense logging and landslides. “This area is so prone to fault lines that it is hard to maintain the roads passing through,” he said. However, farmers set to benefit from the forest’s clearing supported the KFS plan. “It will give us land to farm potatoes and beans,” said Abishack Muthoni.
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. In the Pelis scheme, KFS allows communities living next to forests to cultivate crops while taking care of young trees. However, the 2018 task force indicated that the scheme led to the illegal conversion of indigenous forest land into plantations. (Report from The Standard)
1969 .... gosh, I was thin then ! The tourist signs on top of Menengai.
