Fence built for 21 years unveiled

• Kibaki affirms plans to conserve forests as Aberdares park fence is inaugurated

President Kibaki on Friday inaugurated the longest conservation fence around the Aberdares National Park built for 21 years.

The President said the government was committed to increasing the country’s forest cover from two to four per cent by the year 2012.

This will be scaled up to international standards of at least 10 per cent by the year 2030. Land owners will also be encouraged to plant trees on at least a tenth of their land.

Water towers

President Kibaki reiterated the government’s commitment to the conservation and management of all water towers.

“The government has embarked on an ambitious programme of reforestation and restoration of all our forests,” he said.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who accompanied the President, warned the country could not continue with the hear, see and do nothing attitude on matters related to conservation.

The country, he said, had acted that way for a long time resulting in unpredictable weather patterns including drought and floods.

Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa ordered people living within forests to vacate them to speed up the reforesting of such areas.

Communities living near such areas, he said, could be used to do the work.

On a light note, he praised the performance of the Kenya Wildlife Service director Julius Kipng’etich and called on President Kibaki to promote him to a permanent secretary when the opportunity arose.

“Your Excellency he is a young and efficient parastatal boss. Now that we are talking about corruption and other things, I would request that you promote him to a bigger position when a vacancy arises.”

Mr Kipng’etich said the fence was a management tool to conserve the ecosystem and not to separate the people from the ecosystem.

“This fence will not separate us... it is a tool to reduce human-wildlife conflict. We have not built a Berlin wall to separate us but it is supposed to bring us together,” he said.

The chairman of the Rhino Ark Management Committee, Mr Colin Church, said the fence had been built at a cost of Sh750 million out which about 65 per cent was raised through the annual Rhino Charge. The effort raises over Sh60 million annually.