One is to use this and similar platforms to develop consensus on the African if not Southern agenda going forward. There is unfortunately very little time because much of the negotiation text is already in. But we can influence negotiators in individual countries. We need concrete support for this. Hello!

Kenneth Odero – oderoATclimatexl.org

Today, 23 March 2009, Kenyans wake up to what they have become more accustomed to reading or watching in the media happening in distance places like Australia or California. Alas, it is happening right in our own backyard. Mau Forest is on fire! But that is not the only story. The controversy surrounding impending resettling of current forest settlers in order to save the forest from further destruction refuses to go away. It is reported that the Commission appointed by the Prime Minister to investigate and make recommendations on the way forward is to submit its report this week and there is already speculation on what it may or may not contain and as they say the ‘stakes are high’. Deliberate sabotage by people who want to derail plans to save this vital resource cannot be ruled out even though it would be a desperately senseless and self defeating criminal act.

The Mau Forest is one of the Five Water Towers. The others are Mt. Elgon, Cherangani Hills, Aberdares Range and Mt. Kenya. The recently launched Kenya: Atlas of our Changing Environment (UNEP 2009) notes that the five ‘water towers’ are montane forests and the five largest forest blocks in the country. They form the upper catchments of all the main rives in Kenya with the exception of Tsavo River which originates from Mt. Kilimanjaro. The water towers are sources of water for irrigation, agriculture, industrial processes, as well as all installed hydro-power plants, which produce nearly two-thirds of Kenya’s electricity output.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources website, the Mau Forest Complex as the largest closed canopy forest ecosystem of Kenya. It is as large the forest of Aberdares and Mt Kenya combined. Being the most important water catchment in the Rift Valley and Western Kenya, it is an asset of national importance. The Mau Complex feeds major water arteries that extend as far as lakes Turkana, Natron, and Victoria, and support critical economic activities.

A history of Occupation and Destruction

In spite of its national importance, many areas of the Mau Forest Complex have been deforested or degraded. Degazettement of the forest reserves and continuous widespread encroachment has led to the destruction of over 100,000 hectares of forest since 2000. This represents roughly one-quarter of the Mau Complex’s area.

In 2001, 61 023 ha of forest in the Mau Complex were excised including over half of Eastern Mau Forest Reserve. Eastern Mau Forest is the headwaters for the Njoro River which drains its eastern slopes into Lake Nakuru. One quarter of South West Mau Forest Reserve was excised. The Southwest Mau Forest is the primary source of the Sondu River, site of the Sondu-Miriu hydro-power plant, which is yet to be commissioned. All of Molo Forest Reserve was excised. Between 1973 and 2005, Maasai Mau Forest lost over 8 214 ha of forest within its official boundaries, which were established to protect the forest. Almost 43 per cent of that loss occurred in just two years from 2003 to 2005. Just outside the gazetted boundaries of Maasai Mau Forest nearly 32 000 ha were lost during the same time period. The eastern slopes of the Maasai Mau are a crucial catchment for the Ewaso Nyiro River, as the western slopes are for the Mara River. Forest loss in critical catchment areas for the Sondu, Mara, Molo, Naishi, Makalia Nderit, and Njoro Rivers will result in ecological and hydrological changes, which threaten the sustainable future of areas downstream.

In addition, people have encroached into some 43 700 ha in the Mau Complex’s remaining protected forests. The desirability of many of these areas for agriculture attracts a rapidly growing population and has led to rapid conversion of large areas of forest to farmland. Extreme land cover changes such as these can have serious consequences both within the forest and downstream in the form of water shortages, health risks, desertification, habitat destruction, sedimentation, erosion and even alteration of the micro-climate.

‘Inconvenient Truth’

Loss of forest at this rate is unsustainable and threatens the security and future development of Kenya. Realizing the goals of Vision 2030 will depend in a very significant way upon the sustainable management of Kenya’s natural assets. It is for this reason that an urgent and sustainable solution must be found of dealing with this ecological disaster once and for all!