Nyangweta Forest Excision; just a Tip of Conservation Crisis in Kisii County (PART 1)

Kisii County was part of the defunct Nyanza Province, the New Constitution 2010 having introduced devolution. It is probably one of the best placed counties, among the 47, to set good development records owing to its strategic location in the fertile soils of Gusii Land, good rains and consistent and plenty of professionals. The Kisii County Government has many plans and projects that will make it stay true to its mission of “Prosperity for All.” However, some of the projects are quite ambitious, some of which might lead to serious environmental impacts and permanent changes in the county’s natural resource base. One of such projects is a Ksh. 5 billion sugar factory that the County Government wants to set up in Nyangweta Forest, one of the few forests in the county. This is in addition to plans of further excising the forest (Nyangweta), to set up an Agricultural Campus for Kisii University. In this piece, I will highlight how this project affects the already threatened Nyangweta Forest ecosystem, is full of contradictions, with scanty information, and how the County Government has generally failed to conserve and sustainable manage natural resources within its jurisdiction.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Kisii County Government is planning to excise 120 acres of the Nyangweta Forest, to set up a Sugar Factory, worth Ksh. 5 billion (The Standard , Capital News). The motion has already beeen tabled in the Kenyan Senate by Professor Ongeri (Kisii County Senator) who said that this will leave only 18 acres of the forest. Although there are no clear statistics about the total area of the forest, an approximation puts it at 138 acres. This means that they are planning to clear over 80% of the forest- literally no forest will be left.

STATUS OF NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION IN KISII COUNTY

According to statistics, the total forest cover in Kisii County is about 2.6% (8, 540 acres out of total land area of 321,731 acres- 1302 sq. km). The Constitution of Kenya (2010) and Vision 2030 set a target of at least 10% forest cover in Kenya, meaning that each county should contribute to this target. Kisii County is therefore, lagging behind in addressing this target due to various reasons. The most important factor/hindrance, is that the county government seems to not have a FOREST POLICY to guide its forestry operations. If at all the policy exists, it is only in the books and no serious implementation is being done. In the New Constitution 2010, FOREST EXTENSION is one of the devolved functions, thus a responsibility of the county government. The County Government talks of having District Forest Extension Officers (DFEOs) whose mandate is to promote forestry extension in the county. However, it seems these DFEOs, if they indeed were recruited, are not doing their extension work properly. This is going by the current situation of environmental challenges in the county; e.g. ignorant (sometimes intentional) planting of particular trees species in unwanted areas such as planting of eucalyptus in wetlands and other water sources, low forest cover in farmlands throughout the county, drying water sources, and reclamation of wetlands through brick making among other things. Despite the government introducing the three months moratorium, destruction of forests is rife in Kisii County. This tells that the County Government has not displayed any passion or efforts to promote forest conservation and management, but they are willing to excise part of its little forests for establishment of a sugar industry.

CONTRADICTIONS AND SCANTY INFORMATION

In trying to display their efforts to conserve the environment, the County Government is said to have identified 13 forests which they will allocate to the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for conservation and management. The Kisii County Government claims that Former CS for Environment and Natural Resources gazetted some forests within the County, the 13 forests being among them. This is indeed a good move to enhance conservation and management of the forests. However, this Gazette notice is not in the public domain, meaning that this might be false. Actually, information from the forest department in the county says that, “The County does not have a gazetted forest.” This is a total contradiction that calls for careful evaluation of the gazette claims. During his presentation in the Senate, Professor Ongeri noted that the County Government has received a nod from key stakeholders, including the Kisii County Assembly, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from NEMA, approval by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS). He also mentioned that the there was public participation from the community members, who also gave it an approval. However, there is no document in the public domain to proof that such activities took place, including the feasibility test document! Why is the County Government hiding such key documents from the public, if at all they are available? If the documents are shelved, they county government should make efforts to avail them to the public through their website. 

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

According to the Kisii County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP 2013-17), Nyangweta Forest is a GEOLOGICAL AREA that can serve as 1) TOURISM and RECREATION site 2) be used for CULTURAL/HERITAGE issues and 3) Conservation of WATER, SOIL and BIODIVERSITY. This is line with the Forest Conservation and Management Act (2016). So, are the 13 forests the County is allocating to KFS serving the functions as those mentioned above (Nyangweta Forest)? Of course NO, because you cannot replace an Ecosystem Service! You can only enhance it.

LANDSLIDES
The same CIDP (2013-17) report mentions that Nyangweta Forest is threatened with encroachment, overgrazing, and soil erosion. Indeed, the Kenya Red Cross issued a landslide notice in Nyangweta area in November 2015. This already confirms that Nyangweta Forest is an endangered ecosystem, due to mismanagement. Shockingly, there are no recorded efforts of trying to address these environmental challenges, but the County Government wants to go ahead and excise part of this forest. This will only spell doom for Nyangweta area because landslides and other hazards might be the order of the day.

We should not only look at the economic aspects, but also the long term environmental impacts that this project will have on the surrounding community now and in the future!

PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO, FOR MORE ANALYSIS AND THOUGHTS/ SUGGESTIONS/ RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE PROJECT.

Forest Certification

Do you read the label of products that you buy? And if you do, what motivates you? I bet most of us could say it is the ingredients because of maybe allergies and religious believes. However, we always fail to consider the channel or the origin of such products; whether the production process was (is) legal or standard. For instance, when we buy wood products, we care less about the certification standards but rather the quality and maybe price. It is require that all forest products should undergo Forest Certification before they are available in the market. The Wild Worldwide Fund (WWF) defines Forest Certification as a “system of inspection and tracking timber, pulp and other forest products to ensure they have been harvested according to a strict set of guidelines.” A number of organizations do Forest Certification, but the most credible one is the Forest Stewardship Council (SFC). Founded in 1994, SFC was a result of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that suggested formation of an independent worldwide forest certification scheme. This scheme needed to be free of any governmental, political, or regional influences, thus SFC came up.

SFC has established principles that are considered before giving certification to the forest owners. The principles not only consider the type of trees cut but also on the socio-economic aspects of the forests such as the welfare forest employees, benefits to the community including indigenous rights, usage tenure rights, and environmental management and conservation measures. It is only by showing credible application of the ten solid principles that SFC can certify a particular forest. Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) is also another famous forest certification body.     

I think forest certification has to be the major point of focus if we want to promote sustainable forest management practices (SFM). With most business people rushing for cheap and illegally logged forest products, a strict implementation Forest Certification principle can help address such issues. It should be a law that all commercial forest products must have a “Forest Certification” seal to save on our forests for both the present and the future. Notably, lack of implementing and enforcing such policies as Forest Certification, have seen regions like Sub-Saharan Africa incur huge losses due to illegal logging;  about 17 billion US dollars, while the global loss is 100 billion US dollars (Africa Progress Report, 2014). In his encyclical, “Laudato Si” (Our Common Home), Pope Francis laments that it is quite unfortunate that most countries have masterpieces of laws and policies, but they end up on shelves without implementation and enforcement. As such, it might be difficult to go by these Forest Certification rules, but with cooperation among various stakeholders ranging from global, regional, national, local and private organizations, it is cannot be any challenging. Indeed, Forest Certification is the best way to create a world where social, economic, and ecological aspects positively converge.    

References

WWF. Forest Certification. 

 FSC principles and criteria. 

Forest Certification. 

Pope Francis. Laudato Si (Our Common Home)

Africa Progress Report, 2014 

The Satoyama

Nature is one of the most inseparable aspects when it comes to human life. It is through nature that we get our live moving; talk of the air that we breathe, water for various uses, and land. Therefore, it calls for utmost care of these three basic components of our environment. This is the reason why I want to talk about the “Satoyama,” one of the most practical ways that address natural resource management in an efficient and effective manner in Japan.

Various definitions have been coined to define “Satoyama.” The word itself is a derivation of two words, i.e. “Sato,” which is a Japanese name for a village, and “Yama,” a Japanese name for people. Yokohari and Bolthouse (2011) define the Satoyama as a holistic interlink of various units such as settlements, forests, rice paddies, agricultural fields, grasslands, and woodlands, in one place. Satoyama can also refer to a landscape that consists of managed community woodlands and forests (Yokohari & Bolthouse, 2011; Takeuchi et al., 2003). According to Tsuchiyaa, Okurob, and Takeuchi (2013), Satoyama is a perfect woodland management system. Notably, all these definitions have incorporated the aspect of communities acting in a coordinated manner to manage nature for a common benefit. Therefore, a Satoyama can be simply defined as a system where there is perfect co-existence between people and nature.

Although the Satoyama is mostly practiced in Japan, there is an ongoing interest from all over the world owing to its benefits. Indeed, such trends confirm that Satoyama might be the future management system for human-ecological systems worldwide (Indrawana, Yabeb, Nomurac, & Harrison, 2014). In a Satoyama, people interact with nature in various ways with an aim of getting the maximum from nature and at the same time, ensuring that nature’s status or condition remains intact.

Through proper management, a Satoyama can ensure harvest of various products such as timber and other non-timber products like charcoal, mushrooms, wild vegetables and wild foods. A Satoyama also has grasslands for feeding of livestock, constructions materials especially for thatching houses, and sometime beddings and fertilizer. Rice paddies and other agricultural field in a Satoyama ensure that there is sufficient food supply for the people that live in it. Specifically, the grasslands and woodlands in a Satoyama act as habitats thus increasing the biodiversity levels. This means that with a Satoyama, one creates almost a perfect society where nature and humans interact for each other’s benefit.

I believe that having or living in a Satoyama is a dream that most of us could like to accomplish. Breathing fresh air, feeling the presence of nature in the proximity of your homestead, and most importantly, being plenty supply of foods from the Satoyama! It is high time that we embraced such systems for the sake of our current lives and a sustainable future.

References

Indrawana, M., Yabeb,M., Nomurac, H., Harrison, H. (2014). Deconstructing satoyama- socio-ecological landscape in Japan. Ecological Engineering, 64, 77–84.      

Takeuchi, K., et al. (2003). Satoyama: Traditional rural landscape of Japan. Springer, Tokyo.

Tsuchiyaa. K., Okurob, T., Takeuchib, K. (2013). Combined effects of conservation policy and co-management alter the understory vegetation of urban woodlands: Case study in the Tama Hills area, Japan. Landscape and Urban Planning, 110, 87–98.

Yokohari, M., Bolthouse, J. (2011). Keepit alive,don’tfreeze it: Conceptual perspectiveonthe conservationof continuously evolving satoyama landscapes. Landsc. Ecol. Eng., 7, 207–216.

            

The Possibility of Green Cities

When we hear of the word “green,” we always think of nature; i.e. forests, grasslands, botanical gardens, orchards. On the other hand, the word “cities” keeps us oriented to a scenario of an artificial system that replaces nature; i.e. full-range infrastructure that includes buildings, roads, industrial and sports areas. That brings the question of how these two words (green and city) can exist in one place. It is truly possible to have nature deeply ingrained in a system full of anthropogenic activities! This is possible in various ways.

Specifically, there needs to be policies and laws that guide the planning of cities. This will ensure an organized system of carrying out activities the city. For instance, Japan has an Urban Planning Law that was set up in 1968 and this has had a great positive impact in relation to having green cities in Japan (Tsuchiyaa, Okurob, Takeuchi, 2013). Indeed, one cannot miss to include the word “green” when defining any Japanese city. This Urban Planning Law divides the city into two major areas; the first one referred to as the Urbanization Promotion Areas and the second one called Urbanization Control Areas. In this case, Urbanization Promotion Areas refer to those areas that can be freely used for urban development purposes such as construction of buildings and roads. On the other hand, there is no urban development that is allowed in Urbanization Control Areas. Practical examples of Urban Control Areas are parks and they the best when it comes to conservation of woodlands areas in cities (Tsuchiyaa et al., 2013). This means that some section of the city will remain intact and free from any form anthropogenic activity thus maintaining the nature, while another section will give way for infrastructural development thus a city.

It becomes a big challenge to have green cities in most countries because there are no urban planning policies established. Equally, there might be the policies but the implementation is not done because of either poor governance, lack of funds and expertise or, absence all these factors.  A closer look at Nairobi city (Kenya) displays some form of an existing urban planning law, which is not strictly implemented. Nairobi city has numerous parks, with some such as Uhuru Park and Central Park, located just a stone-throw form the CBD. Despite evidence of some routine maintenance of these parks, it is disheartening that some have been totally ignored. One of such is the Nairobi City Park, that used to be famous for its scenic sites that attracted an aura of events like wedding receptions and recreational activities. However, credit has to be given to some efforts shown in protecting some of the Nairobi City green areas like Arboretum and Karura Forest that within which the Unite Nation Environment Program (UNEP) is located. Unfortunately, these efforts are not good enough because the rest of the green areas have been encroached by people leading to mushrooming of estates and other human activities. Indeed, this proves Luck, Smallbone, and O’Brien’s (2009) findings that, human activities negatively affect green areas in urban areas.  With continued encroachment, we may soon lose all green areas in the city. This calls for urgent actions from the respective authorities and agencies to tackle the issue.

Conclusively, it is possible to have green cities in not only formulation of working urban planning policies, but also their actual implementation. This will ensure environmental sustainability thus posterity. Indeed, green cities are inevitable in the current world where global warming and climate change effects keep on worsening each day!

References

Luck, G. W., Smallbone, L. T., & O’Brien, R. (2009). Socio-economics and vegetation change in urban ecosystems: Patterns in space and time. Ecosystems, 12, 604–620.

Tsuchiyaa. K., Okurob, T., Takeuchib, K. (2013). Combined effects of conservation policy and co-management alter the understory vegetation of urban woodlands: Case study in the Tama Hills area, Japan. Landscape and Urban Planning, 110, 87–98.

The Tree That Was!

Which tree? Could it be Mugumo from Central Kenya? Mangrove from Coast? Acacia from Northern Kenya? Mama Mutere from Western? Name them! I am here to mention the ordeal of either.

Decades ago, our grandfathers' fathers would not miss to say the sign of of the cross under this tree. They had to appreciate Nyasaye, Mulungu, Engoro, Ngai na Mungu. The melodious voices from the nesting birds could keep the background scene fully spiritual. Beautiful short shrubs and herbs could complete the natural picture of the rendezvous. The cool fresh breeze could perfectly replace today's machine driven fans in homes, offices, churches, learning institutions etc. The energy was purely natural!

Suffering from stomachache? Headache? Snake bite? Or any other ailment? The instant medicinal properties of this tree could assure you of a better day tomorrow. Your body homeostasis could could be very functional.

The picturesque created by two or more of these trees was just marvelous. I can compare the tree to a fully metamorphosized African woman who has won a beauty contest. Her fully decorated elegant head- green scarf with faded brown stripes loosely fixed 2 form a conical shape- could compare to the tree canopy! Just like the African woman guards and puts her family in tender care so does the tree canopy. Full of lifeforms- birds, insects in full range especially butterflies, those animals that signed an MoU to always sleep upside down- bats could not miss in the canopy demography. Snakes too represented. How can you forget the big cat, Mr Leopard? Always rests on the biggest branch after an engaging hunt down. All these in coexistence? Mother nature knows the answer better than I do!

This African woman's slender trunk completes the stem picture. I am meant to understand that slender means 'slim and thin'. How could a slim and thin stem support all that biodiversity above it? I have the answer. Very simple! The slender woman can carry her child on the back and walk for kilometers to fetch water, collect firewood and till the shamba. Don't forget that she has to carry the basket full of avocados and matoke to the market with the child on the back? Does she get tired? Does she give up? Does she let go off the child? NO! She is very strong. The same philosophy applies to the stem.

Imagine if that is only one tree, what about a whole forest ecosystem? I have no doubt in mind that it translates to an aura of biodiversity. Back then people respected mother nature. It was there everything- home, church, hospital with natural medicine, rendezvous, garden for picking of fruits and gathering roots.

Today seems to be very strange! I think I am in a foreign land. No singing birds, colorful butterflies, full range biodiversity. The green scenery. Oh! That tree, where did it go? It is no more. It is now a history. What happened?

My father needed more land to expand his agricultural projects, so he cut a couple of them. My uncle is a serious charcoal burner and falling trees is the only thing that can make him smile. Your father operates an enormous timber yard across the road, guess what he can do to the remaining few tree stands. The chimneys across industries are full of smoke, smoke from illegal logging. My mother and your mother are busy feeding us, off course we have to eat! Source of the cooking energy? That tree. What next?

You and I have been implored to come up with sustainable projects, put up tree nurseries, plant and grow trees. It is surprising that the message falls on deaf ears! We must wake up! We must take action! I must talk to dad! You must to your dad! I must talk to my uncle! We must talk to our moms. We must walk the talk! Lest the Mugumo, the Mangrove, the Acacia, Mama Mutere and many others could be histories read in books, newspapers, journals and maybe articles like this one.

CONSERVATION and  NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGER student at the University Of Nairobi, Kenya.

All rights reserved!@Aosindi2012.

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