Kenya’s main water catchment area, the Mau Forest has not lost 25 per cent of its cover in the last 36 years, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has assured.
KFS’ assurance came following an article by a digital platform stating that Mau has cover experienced alarming deforestation despite the government’s pledge to plant 15 billion trees by 2032.
In the article, the publisher alleged that satellite images showed how deforestation has plunged the important catchment area into a crisis.
However, KFS dismissed the allegations, terming the article a misrepresentation of the actual situation.
“The article alleges a crisis in Mau Forest due to deforestation. This is utter falsehood and a complete misrepresentation of the actual situation in the Mau. Forest loss in Mau has been well documented in the last one century and has been shown to be more intense in the last 3 decades”, said KFS in a statement.
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Kenya Forest Cover Loss
According to KFS, Mau’s forest cover loss is attributed to weak policy, legislative and institutional arrangements in the past, areas that Kenya has since made strides to address.
“Major interventions include injecting 3,300 new rangers and foresters into the KFS workforce, enhanced training and equipping of personnel,” it adds.
KFS highlights that prior to the enactment of the Forest Act 2007 and later the Conservation and Management Act 2016, Mau Forest complex suffered greatly from excision, deforestation, encroachment and overgrazing.
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Government’s Decisive Action
Decisive action was taken by the government to commence reclamation of encroached land through Operation Imarisha Misitu since 2023 to date, it notes.
KFS said that in the said article, the areas colored purple in the satellite images are outside the forest and are within areas bordering Mariashoni, Likia, Nesuit, Sururu, Olupusimoru, Tinet, Saino and Keringet among others.
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The service further adds that the article is misleading, completely lacking in factual information and greatly misrepresents the true situation of Mau Forest Complex, adding the satellite imagery is not corroborated by ground truthing.
The Mau Forest Complex is a vast and ecologically significant forest, covering an approximate area of 400,000 hectares.
It includes several forest blocks, with the Maasai Mau, Eastern Mau, and Western Mau being some of the prominent sections.
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