Nakuru County Governor Lee Kinyanjui has called for the devolved management of forest resources in the country as a way of protecting the country’s water towers and forest cover.
Speaking when he hosted the National Assembly Committee on Environment and Natural Resources which paid him a courtesy call, Kinyajui said that the management of Kenyan forest resources was being done from Nairobi, something he said was partly to blame for the depletion of the country’s forest cover.
Kinyanjui stressed the need for county governments to be fully involved in the conservation of forest. He said that a first step towards achieving this would be involving devolved governments in the licensing of saw millers.
This, he said, would ensure that members of the public feel appreciated given that county governments draw their revenue directly from the common mwananchi.
While reiterating that his government will fully participate in tree planting, Kinyanjui said the fact that Nakuru county assembly has set aside Sh29 million towards revival of the pyrethrum sector and support of avocado and macadamia farmers was a true indication that afforestation through fruit trees was essential.
He said Nakuru county government will encourage farmers to invest in planting fruit trees as part of the efforts to increase the forest cover adding that the county has in place 300,000 avocado tree seedlings to be distributed to farmers across the county
The national government has further been challenged to ensure that there is a systematic way in which harvesting of mature trees is done so as to avoid inconveniencing pre-qualified saw millers who find themselves in trouble when impromptu bans are imposed.
The committee is overflying the Aberdare and Mau forests to assess the extent of damage caused by illegal logging.
The tour is part of the committee’s three day engagement that will also involve consultative meetings with members of the community forest associations (CFAs) and the Timber manufacturer’s association (TMA).
Committee chairman Kareke Mbiuki, who led the committee, said there was need for total patience from all stakeholders as far as the moratorium is concerned.
After meeting all concerned stakeholders, the committee will table its report to the taskforce established by environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko.
He said that in as much as there is need to conserve forests, there was need to engage all stakeholders so that the afforestation programme can be all inclusive.
The chairman noted that the imposing of the moratorium by the government was in good faith given the degree of forests destruction in the country.