Counties demand control of forests

County governments in the North rift have demanded that the forestry sector be completely devolved.

The counties say depletion of forests and wildlife poaching will not end if the national government continues to control the sector.

Nandi County executive for environment, water and natural resources Kipkorir Chumo said Friday the government would not achieve its millennium development goals for the sector as long as it refused to relinquish the forests.

“The Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service have failed to curb illegal logging and poaching. We are giving the government free advice — if it wants to save the forestry sector, it must devolve it completely,” Dr Chumo said.

Speaking at Iten Sports Ground where more than 250,000 tree seedlings were distributed to various schools, Dr Chumo attributed the problems affecting the sector to conflict between the two levels of government.

He said local communities could easily identify poachers and illegal loggers in their midst, which the national government could not do.

Separately, Elgeyo-Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos and his West Pokot counterpart Simion Kachapin also urged the government to hand over the forests.

The two counties are home to large sections of the Cherangani water tower.

Currently, county governments are responsible for conserving forest resources while the national government is responsible for their management.

Recently the Elgeyo-Marakwet county government clashed with the Kenya Forest Service after the agency licensed saw millers to harvest trees in the region.

The county issued a directive stopping the harvesting but this was overruled by KFS director David Mbugua, who said county governments had no say over the management of forests.