by Maureen Mudi

While the Mau forest tops the national agenda from the threat of encroachment and deforestation, in the Coast authorities are working to save an important shoreline tree that dies from too much water.

Mangrove forests, which cover many stretches of the coastline, do not dry from drought but rot when water levels rise.

To save forests that had extended deep into the water from dying, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has had to lift a 1982 ban on logging to allow licenced loggers cut them down for commercial use.

Clearing such trees opens up clogged canals in places like Lamu where islands are close together and shores up muddy coastlines, lowering the water level for the survival of remaining trees.

However, the licenced logging is limited to ensure it does not cut off the forests beyond marked demarcations.

Mangrove poles just off-loaded from boats on Lamu island. Photos: Marufu Mohammed/Standard

Almost 30 years ago, Lamu residents used to export the mangrove to the Middle East but the Government banned the trade due to over-exploitation.

The residents recently got a reprieve when the Forestry Department opened up controlled mangrove harvesting for domestic use, for the first time since the ban.

The harvesting is on condition that it is done selectively and only those licensed by the Government are authorised to conduct it for the domestic market.

But the partial lifting of the ban has fuelled an illegal logging trade that had always existed, as locals argue they should be allowed to harvest the tree freely.

The Kenya Forest Services (KFS) officer in charge of Lamu District, Mr Joseph Maina says the parastatal cannot allow the harvesters to freely conduct the activity since they would not know which trees to harvest or to preserve.

"Mangroves play a big role in conservation of marine life and that is why we only allow limited harvesting for domestic purposes," he says.

He says the trees KFS earmarks for cutting would still die anyway since they are too deep in the water.

Mangroves along the Kenya coast cover about 53,000 hectares of shoreline with the largest groves occurring in the Lamu area, about 35,000 hectares. Other expansive ones are at the Vangani-Funzi shoreline near the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Mangroves that survive are those that only have their roots and base in the water. They rot when the trunk is submerged.

Maina, however, says most mangrove areas in Lamu are still intact but if the harvesters are left uncontrolled, they could deplete the forests in a short while.

The official says five per cent of the Lamu coastline where mangrove occurs has already been negatively affected by excavators who dig out mud on which the trees grow to create yard space for boats and other construction activities.

He says the muddy ecosystems provide natural nursery beds, feeding areas and shelter for a wide variety of marine life and any interference affects their cycle.

Maina says the mangrove tree does its own re-generation since the mother tree produces seeds that later germinate once on the ground. The official says the parastatal controls the licenced cutters by apportioning them areas to conduct harvesting while managing periodic shifting to other areas.

KFS has begun planting of the mangrove trees in degraded areas as a test case to see whether the trees could be restored in such places.

One licenced mangrove wood dealer, Mr Mohammed Said Baharam, says for every tree, a harvester may get Sh300 from sale of its hard wood.

Another harvester, Mr Kambi Karisa says mangrove business has been the lifeline of the residents in the area and, like many others, puts pressure to be allowed unlimited harvesting.

Harvesters operate from boats anchored on water to reach trees far off-shore. It could take up a week to cut and load a sizeable bundle of logs to fill a five ton boat.

"We cook, eat, sleep and even wash from the boat for the period we are harvesting the mangroves," Karisa says.

The chairman of the mangrove cutters co-operative society in Lamu, Mr Abdulraman Abdul Ali says the industry has employed over 6,000 people and it is still recruiting more.

The sacco, which covers all mangrove dealers in Lamu claims the Government does not consult them on the tree’s issues adding that they have to pay the forestry department Sh500 for every 20 trees harvested, which they claim is a high fee.

But KFS says the mangrove harvesting will remain tightly controlled "since it is an extremely valuable resource with environmental and ecological attributes that include sediment trapping, water filtration, marine nutrients recycling, biodiversity enhancement and fisheries production".

He says owing to limited information about the environmental contributions of mangrove trees, they are likely to be readily sacrificed short-term gains.

"Where mangroves grow there should not be any interference to curtail growth. Any construction or farmlands should not be 20 metres to the forest," he says.