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Kenya: This Forest Must Be Protected
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The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
24 June 2008
Posted to the web 24 June 2008
Nairobi
The destruction of Embobut forest in Marakwet District is alarming. A lasting solution must be reached soon by the Government and the community before the situation gets out of hand.
For the last five years, a lot has been said and written about the same, but the Government officials have remained tight-lipped about the issue.
An outcry by the residents of Kerio Valley about the destruction has borne no fruits either. The situation is further worsened by the local chiefs and their assistants, who have taken advantage of the people's ignorance and allocated themselves chunks of forest land and engaged in illegal logging.
Culturally, Embobut forest is a sacred resource, a source of medicinal herbs, totemic symbols and animals, rivers and other resources. For many clans living in Marakwet District, the destruction of this forest is catastrophic. This is because it has a lot of culture-associated beliefs. At the moment, the survival and development of the area has been jeopardised and many projects initiated by the Kerio Valley Development Authority have been affected adversely. The adverse effects of the destruction of this forest are very clear; soil degradation, landslides at Kaben Location, drought, ecological imbalance and consequent degradation of the quality of life in the semi-arid Kerio Valley. Other negative impacts may soon crop up, which are likely to bring war between the invaders and those using the water for irrigation in the lower lands of the semi-arid Kerio Valley.
One thing to note is that no one clan in the Marakwet has monopoly of this forest. All are expected to manage and use it with due consideration of other stakeholders.
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If the Government is not willing to get a lasting solution to this problem, then the alternative is to declare the forest free for all to invade.
I ACTUALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND IF WE AS MARAKWETS EXIST IN KENYA AND MORE SO IF WE ARE PART OF GOVERNMENT.I AM 20 PLUS YEARS AND I WAS BORN IN THE SO CALLED EMBOBUT FOREST,(SINEN).I AM SO MUCH CONCERNED WITH HUMANITY AND SO THE ENVIROMENT,BUT MY QUESTION IS WHERE DOES THE GOVERNMENT WANT THESE PEOPLE WHOM THEY ONLY VALUE WHEN ELECTIONS ARE CLOSE TO GO?. SINCE I WAS BORN I HAV EXPERIENCED FOUR SCENARIOS IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT HAS TREATING US UNFAIRLY AND BRUTALLY.I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT A LONG LASTING SOLUTION WILL BE ATTAINED IF THE COME SETTLE THIS OVER 18000... [Read Full Text]
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