Charcoal burners and sand harvesters in Yatta Sub-County have been urged to form committees that will help them conform to the environmental conservation policies.
In addition, the committees will help them acquire relevant permits to carry out the business.
Speaking at Matuu on Friday, Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) environmental conservation operations manager Peter Mbadi said that charcoal burning is one of major activities that has led to environmental degradation and needs to be regulated.
Mbadi said that if charcoal burners followed the law in logging, the business would have a positive impact.
“New policies and controlled charcoal burning activities can be a major boost to the environment. Residents can earn a living without affecting the forests,” he said.
He added that this will help them implement agro-forestry programmes and gather information on how and when to harvest trees for charcoal in the area. He said KTDA is determined to plant more trees as they use a lot of firewood in their tea processing.
Mbadi also urged sand harvesters in the area to form groups to sell the product at a price that they can benefit from rather than selling it individually at throw-away prices.
The environmental conservancy officer has emphasised all the environmental stakeholders in the KTDA foundation umbrella to sensitise locals on county new natural resources management policies.