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By:
DICKSON IRUNGU | |||||||||
| Posted:
Nov,16-2016 21:13:07
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NAKURU, Kenya--The fight to save the Mau Forest continues in Kenya with the latest mission taking place in Narok County.
Nyakweri Forest which forms part of the vast Mau Forest Complex in the heart of Rift Valley region sits on a 20,000Ha piece of land. It is a communal forest under the Narok County Government located in Trans Mara District. The Kenya Forest Service(KFS) which has been on the ground for one month and a half now, responded to the forest's cry after a heavy invasion by bandits who have been agents of destruction for over 5 years.
The bandits have eaten up over 50% of the forest sitting on a 20Ha space--this is according to Mr. James Mburu an Ecosystem conservator in Narok who terms it a menace.
The forest is one of the remaining dry land forests and it is home to indigenous trees. It is an important resource serving most of the Maasai community's needs making it a source of dependence for livelihood to the community who live in Narok County.
Being a water catchment area for several rivers, the community whose main activity is pastoralism depends on it as a source of water and during dry seasons it serves as grazing lands for the animals.
"The resource needs to be conserved not only for today's purpose but also for future generations and all Kenyans." Mr. Mburu says.
The forest sits near the prestigious and famous Maasai Mara game reserve; it serves as dispersal for wildlife animals from the reserve. Elephants and other grazers from the Mara reserve access the forest during dry times. Nyakweri forest also serves the locals with medicinal herbs, fuel wood and honey since it hosts beehives planted by the locals around it.
The KFS were called into action to help rescue the forest after voluntary groups with the interest of conserving it faced challenges over grown impunity. One such group is the Trans Mara Wildlife Scouts Association.
Mr.John Mepkori the leader of the scouts group says they have taken the duty of conserving forests and wildlife in local Trans Mara. They have been in service for 18yrs working together with KFS, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Mara Conservancy Rangers.
In the recent 5years, the scouts have had a heavy duty of fighting with loggers. Although they had tried to urge the locals to conserve the forest, the fight worsened when law implementers joined the impunity making their efforts futile.
It is after outcries via the media that their cries were hard. They had launched minor operations making arrests in their first operation which lasted about two weeks, they managed to arrest 80 people and in the second operation 30 more people were nabbed. Unfortunately, due to bribery the bandits were released.
Hope was restored after KFS answered to their cry and deployed 40 officers who within one and a half months have managed to do a tremendous job.
They (KFS) managed to destroy several charcoal kilns put up by residents, recover over 1,500 bags of charcoal and impound several transport vehicles. Several people have been arraigned in court for logging and transportation of charcoal and timber from the forest.
After the Scouts group established that the root of destruction lies in locals leasing farms for charcoal burning activities, they resolved to make arrests and impose fines on those who lease farms together with those who burn charcoal as well as transporters.
According to the Narok Ecosystem Conservator Mr. James Mburu, they responded after stakeholders made cries on logging and charcoal burning in Nyakweri forest. He terms their mission as successful so far.
"The operation has been successful although a few people do not believe charcoal burning can stop." He says. "This is a serious problem that needs intervention," he added.
He says that KFS has the capacity to end the menace since they have every resource including a helicopter that helps in aerial surveillance. "We shall be here for as long as the forest needs to be protected. Destruction must stop," Mburu declared firmly. Mr. Lenku Ole Tumbis a village elder supports the operation fully as he believes the future lies in the forest's conservation. "When the forest cries, we should respond to the cry. Nyakweri has cried we have to act," he says. He says that since time immemorial, the Maasai have been friends to forests and wildlife. Their dependence on forests cannot be underrated since it is their source of livelihood. "It provides grazing land, medicine (herbal), water and food; honey," he alludes. He does not under estimate the aesthetic properties of the forest saying, "the destruction of forests destroys the beauty of the country's nature." Mr. Lenku blames the destruction of Nyakweri on manipulators who take advantage of the locals' needy nature, something Mr. James Mburu echoes as true. "Manipulators steal our forest by paying locals KES100 for a bag of charcoal; they then reap profits at the market leaving Nyakweri in agony," Lenku says. He does not hesitate to send a word to politicians who in any way support logging calling them enemies of the nation. "Anyone destroying our forests including politicians who support the act is an enemy of the nation," he says. Another local resident Mr. John Ole Ng'anda credits the KFS for the reduced destruction since their deployment. He still insists they have a long way to go in order to nab the cartels who use their money to pay locals and own Lorries used in transporting charcoal. He sends out an indication of commitment and will to fight cartels by saying, "No Retreat No Surrender." His gratitude to KFS is expressed by recommendation that a bull be slaughtered by the community for the officers who are devoted. He wishes KFS could stay a little longer and continue helping. He further urged every administrator including the local police officers to motivate the KFS officers by seeing to it that justice prevails. Among the challenges outlined by Mr. Johnson Mepkori; cartels who are about 8 of them are the huge problem since they have money to manipulate locals and dishonest government officials; the presence of informers working for cartels who track the officers' movements and expose them to evade capture; the other issue is that of government officials liaising with the cartels and use of government vehicles to get past barriers. Mr. James Mburu recognized Oroian Group Ranch for their efforts in managing conservation saying it is the way to go for Nyakweri to be rescued. Apart from urging every stakeholder to join hands in helping, he called on the County Government to educate locals and advise them on how to manage the eco system. As part of their exit strategy when the mission ends, the KFS is ready to help the community form a Community Forest Agency (CFA) committee with all stakeholders to take charge of Nyakweri Forest Management. "We shall be coming frequently just for surveillance," he says. Mr. Johnson Mepkori urged locals to quit selling and destroying the forest and warned neighboring counties who put Trans Mara under pressure to look for different sources of charcoal far from there. He further called on the government to extend KFS deployment and provide more vehicles to help in ambush and rescue missions. As Africa fights to conserve the Natural Resources, Kenyans have heard Nyakweri's cry for salvation which has been answered with the stakeholders optimistic of the mission's success. | |||||||||
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Source:
AJABU AFRICA NEWS
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