Residents living around Zaina forest in Tetu, Nyeri County are up in arms against Kenya Forest Services (KFS) for allowing too many livestock to graze in the forest leading to over grazing.
Communities, living near the forest claim the animals were polluting water sources damaging access roads and destroying their crops.
The residents said they had planted tree seedlings under the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS) which were destroyed by these animals.
The PELIS programme empowers forest edge communities’ plant exotic and indigenous tree seedlings on depleted sections of forest areas or where tree harvesting has taken place. The community members plant and tend for seedlings as the farm and later leave the sections once the trees are big enough to grow on their own.
The residents further claim most of those grazing inside the forest which is part of the Aberdare ecosystem, were doing it illegally as they were not paying the requisite fees to be allowed to do so.
They asked the KFS to conduct an audit of all livestock inside the forest.
“Let the forest manager tell us how many livestock he has allowed to graze inside the forest because we feel they are too many and could end up destroying the precious ecosystem” Marion Wangari a resident said .
Zaina Community Forest Association (CFA) Secretary Maina Gatura lamented that KFS had disregarded the laid down grazing plan for the area by allowing so many animals inside.
Gatura added that several sections of roads inside the forest such as Gakanga, Kanyinya and Miagayuini had been completely destroyed by hundreds of livestock that graze inside.
The CFA secretary noted that majority of grazers do not want to pay the requisite fees to KFS and thus sneak in their animals illegally leading to loss of revenue to the government.
Douglas Wandeto claimed he saw some of the grazers spray their animals near river beds fearing that water sources from the forest could be contaminated with pesticides.
KFS forest manager in charge of the forest, James Gathegea however declined to give the capacity of livestock the forest can hold and how many were currently grazing inside the forest.
Wahome Ndiritu and John Kabando who graze in the forest said they pay between Sh15 and Sh10 per cow to graze in the forest but admitted to have more animals “belonging to other people” that graze alongside their animals.
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