Mombasa environmentalists have faulted the lifting of a six-year moratorium on logging by the government saying it will claw back on gains made on environment conservation.
Speaking at Molo on Sunday the Head of State lifted the ban on logging because mature trees were decaying in the forests while they can be harvested and others planted.
The environmentalists are appealing to the government to rescind its directive since tree cutting will destroy the ecosystem adding the government move will put the country’s forest cover at risk as the directive may be misused.
Br Edwin Muinga, the Chairperson of Clean Mombasa said President Ruto’s decision on lifting logging will dent his image and may discourage Kenyans to conserve the environment.
“In Kenya climate change was exacerbated by illegal logging to the extent of wreaking havoc on our environment, our forest cover is supposed not to be less than 10 or 15 per cent, but it reduced to five per cent and the forest cover has been increasing because of the banning of logging where people have embraced tree planting,” said Dr Muinga
The environmentalists praised his excellence President William Ruto and identify him as an environmental champion of green energy.
Similarly, he disagreed with his words claiming that he will have a difficult time in September during the big Nairobi Environmental Conference the people
“I appreciate the President for being at the forefront of advocating for environmental conservation, green energy, and climate change, but if he can give such kind of speech, he will have a hard time explaining how we are planting trees and cutting them,” stated Muinga.
Muinga added that this will only benefit businesspeople who will take advantage of the lifting of the ban to do business and benefit themselves at the expense of the environment urging Kenyans to continue with tree planting to conserve the environment.
“It’s like he has agreed with businessmen because it seems like he is defending them to cut trees and destroy the environment and the ecosystem and we as the Clean Mombasa CBO are urging our president to reconsider what he is doing because what he spoke in France, South Africa and here at home is many ways different,” concluded Edwin.
Clean Mombasa CBO is a volunteer environmentalist who sensitizes the residents and the government on the environment, the importance of tree planting, climate change, and global warming in general
About the Author
