Rich resources in Maasai Mau make it a hot potato

Not long ago, former Bureti MP Paul Sang told a crowd that “rain comes from up [the sky] and not trees”.

The MP was responding to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s objection to the illegal encroachment of the Mau Forest Complex (MFC) which sparked a political spat with Rift Valley MPs.

The Mau debate has over the years cost high profile politicians office while building others at the same time.

And that the Maasai Mau Forest is the most threatened block of the MFC due to extensive encroachment and degradation is not in doubt.

Likewise, 21 other blocks which make up the vast Mau are facing varying degrees of destructive human activities whose continuity has caused widespread public alarm as it poses a threat to water security in the country.

NATURAL TOWER

The Maasai Mau acts as a natural tower for Kenya, storing water during the rainy season and releasing it during dry periods and the encroachment catastrophe is a national issue which will affect the country for many years to come if not addressed.

Agriculture, logging, charcoal burning, settlement and other human activities have destroyed the complex and disrupted its role of storing and distributing water.

Statistics from the Environment and Forestry Ministry show the entire MFC is the largest closed canopy forest ecosystem in Kenya.

It covers an area of 455,000 hectares and is as large as the forests of Mt Kenya (203,150ha) and the Aberdares (104,078ha) combined.

Located in Narok county, it borders Kericho County to the West, Nakuru County to the East and Uasin Gishu County to the North.

FOREST

Other blocks that make up the complex are Chemorogok, Eastern Mau, Eburu, Kilombe hill, Lembus, Londiani, Maji mazuri, Western Mau, Maasai Mau, Mau Narok, Molo, Northern Tinderet, Olposimoru, Metkei, South West Mau, South Mau, Tinderet, Transmara, West Molo, Timboroa, West Mau, Nabkoi.

“Out of the 22 forest blocks, 21 are gazetted as State forests under the Forest Act, CAP 385 repealed in 2005 and are managed by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS),” says Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko in “Report of Cabinet Secretary on Maasai Mau Forest (water tower) Evictions.”

But why has the Maasai Mau forest block gained so much attention and emerged as a hot potato in the Kenyan political discourse?

It is the only forest block which is under the Narok County Government as a trust Land under the Trust Land Act (Cap 288).

FAST DEPLETION

The county government however does not hold any title to the forest and it was not until this August that CS Tobiko recommended in a report that the document be processed and issued immediately.

Illegal settlements first reported in 1970s in this specific forest are leading to fast depletion of forest cover, forcing the national government, out of pressure from local and international conservation groups, to act.

Initially, land was issued by the government out of goodwill in settling otherwise landless citizens.

However, most of them later emerged to be senior politicians, chiefs, councillors, employees of Narok County Council and influential people in the current and past governments who amassed chunks of land, virtually owning the Maasai Mau Trust Land Forest in Narok.

These individuals who irregularly acquired large parcels of land in various names sold their pieces at huge sums of money running into millions of shillings. The original sizes of most of the land was hugely inflated before being sold.

GROUP RANCHES

The June 2004 report of the Commission of Inquiry into the illegal and irregular allocations of public land notes that sizes of most of the group ranches allocated were inflated hugely and the difference sold to unsuspecting settlers.

It is then that huge chunks of forest were cleared to pave way for homes and farms and quickly subdivided into smaller parcels and registered with tittle deeds which the government has now declared null and void.

“Large tracts of forested lands have been cleared for agriculture. Cultivation on steep slopes, riparian areas, poor farming methods and encroachment of wetlands was noted by various studies.

“The consequences of these poor farming practices have led to soil erosion, soil exhaustion, landslides and flooding and low crop yields, siltation of water bodies, and water shortage among others. The situation is worsened by cultivation in unfavourable areas, encroachment and forest clearance. Cattle grazing has also been found to reduce plant species composition,” CS Tobiko says in his report.

FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM

While there have been efforts by successive government officials at different times to reclaim the lost portions of the fragile Maasai Mau ecosystem, it has not worked as expected.

At one time the government would make declarations to evict illegal settlers in the forest but sometimes this process was politically interfered with.

And the consequences have been monumental and catastrophic.

Three forest blocs (Maasai Mau Forest, Transmara Forest and the Eastern Mau forest) were valued at Sh17 billion by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, 2011.

IMaasai Mau is also an ecosystem with regional trans-boundary importance as its conservation supports several multilateral environmental agreements to which Kenya is party to.