cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/29768007
- In Kenya, an uproar briefly followed the August announcement that the beloved Karura Forest north of Nairobi would no longer be jointly managed by local citizens’ group Friends of Karura Forest and the Kenya Forest Service; the decision has since been reversed.
- The 15-year partnership has restored several indigenous plant species to the Karura Forest, which is also a haven for wildlife such as jackals, bush pigs and small antelopes.
- Previously, the area was threatened by land-grabbers and illegal logging; today, the initiative employs more than 35 staff, who work on forest restoration, security and infrastructure maintenance while some 300 local community members supply thousands of tree seedlings each month for reforestation.
In the decades prior to FKF’s involvement, Karura was badly damaged by commercial logging, which removed trees such as eucalyptus and cypress for timber without replanting them as required by forestry regulations.
People from communities in the poor neighborhoods adjacent to the forest regularly entered it to gather firewood, produce charcoal and hunt rabbits and bush pigs. Politically connected individuals also illegally helped themselves to large sections of the gazetted forest reserve for housing development.
“Before FKF was formed, Karura was in danger of being lost to land-grabbers and illegal loggers. The forest was also a haven for criminals where gangs tortured, raped and murdered their victims,” Njoroge told Mongabay.
No war but the grass war. Forest destruction and animal abuse transcend all class divisions; so too must the solutions.
He said the forest service is keen to maintain its partnership with FKF, and the change in how gate fees are collected was made to bring Karura in line with government policy. “This is a government requirement for accountability purposes, and KFS being a government agency, we must abide by this. Otherwise, the money would be channeled back to our joint account with FKF to be expended as before.”
Njoroge pointed out that eCitizen will impose an additional 50 shillings ($0.40) for every transaction, effectively doubling the cost of entry for a child, for instance, and raising the price of general admission by 100-150 shillings (up to $1.15).
Isn’t the alleged purpose of government to serve and protect the people…? Isn’t the alleged purpose of technology to make people’s lives easier…?
Kage, whose firm worked on reestablishing native species in Karura, observed that community involvement has played a pivotal role in rehabilitation and management there.
“You cannot protect forests by guns or electric fences; you need the social fence, which is the community, to effectively protect forests,” he told Mongabay.
Exactly. You cannot rely on the government, or technology, or physical barriers; the people living there must be willing to protect the forest. Or to frame it another way: the people willing to protect the forest must be living there.