NAIROBI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- A move by Kenya to resume logging activities in public forests seeks to create a balance between conservation efforts and economic growth, the government said on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry said in a statement released in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that it seeks to harvest trees from 26,000 hectares of public forests to create job opportunities and spur economic growth in rural areas.
"These trees, if not removed, would eventually rot and die, leading to colossal loss of revenue, which would otherwise be used in the restoration of degraded forests," the statement said.
Kenyan President William Ruto in May lifted a six-year ban on logging, which caused a public outcry. Environmentalists said the lifting of the embargo would reverse gains made in forest conservation at a time the country was facing the worst effects of climate change, including drought.
"The lifting of the ban in gazetted public forest plantations was informed by an inventory undertaken by a Multi-Agency Taskforce between 2020 and 2022, which revealed 26,000 hectares of over-mature trees," the ministry said.
It said logging would help improve the livelihoods of millions of individuals and communities that depend on forests.
According to the ministry, Kenya's public forests cover more than 150,000 hectares and account for up to 6 percent of the 2.49 million hectares of gazetted forests that consist of pine, cypress and eucalyptus trees. The forests supply 31.4 million cubic meters of timber annually, against a demand of 47 million, leaving a deficit that is supplied through imports from Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ■