Fury over trees felled at City Park to erect billboard

Activist Kamau Thuo points out sections of City Park Forest Research where trees have been felled by an advertising firm to erect billboards. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Thuo stated that the destroyed indigenous trees have a combined age spanning centuries.
  • He said the destruction had rendered monkeys, birds and small animals homeless.
  • Mr Thuo said the billboard on City Park Forest Reserve on Limuru Road “should be removed immediately and investigations conducted to ascertain the extent of environmental destruction. 

Uproar has greeted a move by an advertising firm to fell trees at Nairobi’s City Park on Friday night, to create space for erection of a billboard.

Residents, led by the local member of the County Assembly, Mr Thuo Kamau Thuo, have demanded that destruction of the iconic park be halted or they would file a case to stop the company’s activities.

Speaking to the Nation at City Park on Saturday, Mr Thuo, who is also an environmental activist, said the investor had destroyed trees and habitats for monkeys.

“I wish to draw the attention of the public to the deliberate and continuous destruction of forest resources at City Park Forest Reserve by leading firms that should conserve the environment instead of destroying it,” he said. 

“These firms are interested in making money from the park instead of protecting the environment. Their work is logging with selfish interests to make money,” he added.

Mr Thuo stated that the destroyed indigenous trees have a combined age spanning centuries. He said the destruction had rendered monkeys, birds and small animals homeless.

“This must be stopped by our city county government and the national government by ensuring that those involved are arrested and face the full force of the law. Not doing so means that in a few days City Park will be no more,” he said.

Mr Thuo said the billboard on City Park Forest Reserve on Limuru Road “should be removed immediately and investigations conducted to ascertain the extent of environmental destruction, and appropriate action taken” against the company whose staff he blamed for the destruction. 

“In the coming week, all the billboards on City Park Forest Reserve must fall and trees be planted in their place... If no action is going to be taken, we will mobilise our people to pull down the billboard down, he said.