Explore other options before hiving off forest

There are plans by the Member of Parliament for Eldama Ravine, Moses Lessonet, to carve 100 acres off the Narasha Forest, which forms part of the Mau Water Complex, to construct a school. According to the MP, all that remains now is approval from the Kenya Forest Service.

These plans have put the Member of Parliament on a collision course with environmentalists and even his constituents. The National Council of Non-Governmental Organisations has threatened to organise residents to go on a demonstration to oppose his plans next week.

Their concerns are driven by the fact that Perkerra River has its source in the Narasha Forest and plans to reduce the forest will have an adverse effect on it.

It is worthy of note that the Government has pledged to increase the forest cover in line with recommendations adopted at the 2006 United Nations Forests Forum.

The forum recommended that governments should reverse the loss of forest cover through sustainable forest management that includes the protection, restoration, afforestation, reforestation and increased efforts to stop forests degradation.

Hiving off a section of the forest to build a school will defeat the gains realised by the Government in saving the Mau Forest so far, which forms part of the biggest water catchment areas in the country and the region.

Only last year, the Government ordered the eviction of people who had invaded the Mau Forest and as a legislator, Mr Lessonet should know better than to go back to that path of past folly. According to the UN, between 1990 and 2010, Kenya lost an average of 12,050 ha or 0.32 per cent of forest cover per year.

That is not impressive. Mr Lessonet should be at the forefront in conserving the trees, not leading those who want to clear it. Building a school is a noble idea since the benefits of education cannot be gainsaid.

However, it is unacceptable that a forest has to be destroyed to achieve this. There cannot be a shortage of alternative land on which to build such a school in the constituency; that option should be explored.

Climate change, which is a consequence of human activities, has adversely affected food production in most parts of the country. Close to two million people are starving as a result of bad climatic conditions and anything that may make the  situation worse should be condemned.