NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday announced that it has started the process to revoke all the title deeds issued for lands inside gazetted forests to save the resources from encroachment.
Soipan Tuya, cabinet secretary for environment, climate change and forestry, said in a statement issued in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that the documents were issued irregularly and, therefore, are illegal.
The revocation is expected to save the nation's 2.29 million hectares of forest cover that is increasingly under attack as the country grapples with the effects of climate change.
"All public organizations that have been allocated land in gazetted forests will be issued with special licenses to utilize the land for the intended purpose and the good of the public," Tuya said.
Only 7 percent of Kenya's 582,650 square kilometers in total area is under forest cover, which is below the globally recommended 10 percent.
The Kenyan government is working to increase the forest coverage rate to at least 10 percent through an initiative that seeks to plant 15 billion trees in 10 years. This is also part of the government's mitigation efforts against climate change, which is ravaging the country as drought and heavy rains occur in the country more frequently. ■