Kenya Announces Plan to Protect Forests

Soipan Tuya, the cabinet secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, said in a statement released in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, that there are several violations targeting forests that have been going on for too long, including illegal logging and charcoal burning, which the government is keen to stop.

"A multi-agency security operation to end forest crimes that include encroachment, illegal logging, and charcoal burning will be extended to all forest ecosystems across the country," Tuya said.

The government is currently carrying out evictions of illegal settlers from Mau Forest, the country's largest water tower.

Kenyan President William Ruto ordered the eviction of the hundreds of settlers in early October, noting that the government would stop at nothing to protect the country's water tower.

Kenya's public forests cover more than 150,000 hectares, constituting 6 percent of the 2.49 million hectares of gazetted forests in the East African nation, which consists 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, according to the ministry.

The government is running a campaign to plant 15 billion trees in 10 years in a bid to increase forest cover and cushion the country from adverse effects of climate change including drought.

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