PM launches appeal to save forest

 

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Wednesday launched a 400 million dollars (Sh7.6 billion) appeal to save the country's largest forest, the Mau Forest Complex.

 

In conference with foreign envoys, representatives of international donors , the private sector and civil society which was held in UN headquarters in Nairobi, Raila said the Mau issue was no longer ‘a Kenya problem’ but an international concern, urging international community to play a role in saving the forest.

 

“When oil prices went up, so did the prices of fertilizer, tractor diesel and transportation.

 

“I wish to appeal to every Kenyan and development partner to support the government's efforts to rehabilitate the Mau,” he told the conference.

 

According to a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report, around 25 percent of the 400,000-hectare (988,000 acres) Mau forest cover has been destroyed by human encroachment, illegal logging and destructive agriculture over the last two decades.

 

UNEP's director Achim Steiner said the work ahead to save the complex needs substantial resources and political goodwill, underscoring the importance of the forest to Kenya’s development.

 

“The Mau complex is of critical importance for sustaining current and future ecological, social and economic development in Kenya. The rehabilitation of the ecosystem will require substantial resources and political goodwill. UNEP is privileged to work in partnership with the government of Kenya towards the implementation of this vital project,” he noted.

 

MAU forest, which is in the heart of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, is a source of several rivers and lakes including Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake.

 

Government’s effort to forcible evict people from the forest has been met with stiff resistance from the local Members of the Parliament who advocated for compensation instead.