How Kenya is courting disaster by greedily encroaching on forests

 

Trees at Karura Forest on April 22, 2023. [File, Standard]

Last week, Kenyans learnt of a government plan to hive off 76 acres of land from the Nairobi National Park to enable relocation of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage and facilitate ongoing expansion of the Bomas of Kenya. In the weeks before this, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) had cleared around four acres of Karura forest to start a tree seedling nursery and prepare temporary barracks for the National Youth Service. Within the context of the recent floods that wreaked havoc across Nairobi and several parts of the country, these moves can generally be described as shortsighted, for they will come back to haunt us at a later date.

By the time a public uproar forced the KFS to rescind its plans in Karura Forest, acres of trees had already been felled. It defies logic why anyone would cut mature trees to start a tree nursery while there exist acres upon acres of non-forested public land that could serve that very purpose across Nairobi and across Kenya. Indigenous trees are today being cleared on the 76-acre parcel that is to be hived off the Nairobi National Park.

But these happenings at the park and in Karura did not occur in isolation.

Kenyans have, in recent years, witnessed increased encroachment in several other forests, including the Aberdare Forest, Kakamega Forest, Loita Forest in Narok, Oloolua Forest in Nairobi, Imenti Forest in Meru, Mutitu Hill Forest in Kitui, Suam Forest in Trans-Nzoia, and the Dakatcha Woodland in Kilifi. The encroachment on these and other forests by individuals or institutions is steadily evolving into a crisis that is exacerbated by greed and a general lack of respect for the environment.

The 618-hectare Oloolua forest, which is a critical resource for the Mbagathi River and the wider Athi River catchment, has in recent years faced threats of encroachment by powerful figures and entities. Parts of the forest have been hived off, and unauthorised developments continue to sprout inside the forest.

Besides its location on the Kenya-Uganda border, Suam Forest in Trans Nzoia County is part of the Mt Elgon ecosystem and water tower. The Kenyan government plans to clear around 50 acres of Suam to enable construction of a one-stop border town, housing projects and other infrastructure, even though there already exists a border post that can be expanded without encroaching on 50 acres of forestland.

Imenti Forest in Meru County is a gazetted public forest that sustains biodiversity and supports a range of livelihoods in the surrounding areas, including through agriculture. Towards the end of 2025, there was a government proposal to hive off 50 acres from this forest to clear the way for the construction of a State lodge and golf course. A golf course!

In this era where the sky is the limit, 50 acres seems to be the new standard.

It is a fact of science that deforestation and degradation of critical water catchment areas eventually result in erratic rainfall - a factor that could make Kenya even more vulnerable to droughts and food insecurity. The encroachment on wetlands and other riparian reserves that act as natural sponges for excess rainwater, on the other hand, makes cities such as Nairobi susceptible to flooding every time it rains heavily, as we witnessed in March 2026 and in preceding years.

In October 2025, the Ministry of Tourism released the Kenya National Tourism Strategy (2025-2030) draft plan, which proposed pathways for the privatisation of beaches such as Takaungu and Vipingo in Kilifi, Kipungani and Matondoni in Lamu, and Msambweni in Kwale to attract high-end investment in the tourism sector. The draft strategy also proposed special concessions on Chale and Funzi islands in Kwale, and Kiwayu and Manda Toto islands in Lamu. Some of the areas marked for this privatisation drive contain mangrove forests, which play a significant role in the maritime ecosystem.

Unless stopped, this insatiable greed for forests, land, other natural resources, and public resources in general can result not only in ecological catastrophes, but also socio-economic and political implosions.

According to the KFS website, forest cover stands at approximately 8.83 per cent of Kenya’s total surface area, which is slightly above 50,000 square kilometres of land. Tree cover stands at approximately 12 per cent - just above the 10 per cent minimum stipulated in Article 69 of the Constitution.

How does Kenya’s forest cover compare with countries in the region? Tanzania has a forest cover of 55 per cent, Mozambique’s forest cover stands at over 40 per cent, Ethiopia has a forest cover of around 12 per cent, while Uganda has a forest cover of 12.4 per cent - a significant drop from an average of 24 per cent in 1990.

In 2022, the Kenyan government announced an ambitious plan to increase Kenya’s forest cover to 30 per cent by planting 15 billion trees. What baffles many, however, is how a government that has publicly stated the intention to increase forest cover can simultaneously be publicly felling trees or cutting trees.

A cursory glance across the region shows that this attack on forested areas is not happening in Kenya alone. It is transnational, and similar patterns can be observed in the Congo Forest, among other territories.

Despite all the rhetoric from various quarters, one thing must be made clear. Forests in Kenya, like elsewhere, stand on land, and any encroachment on forests should be understood as an encroachment on land, including whatever lies above or beneath the ground.

The land question in Kenya is one of the oldest national questions, and it remains unresolved to date. It is therefore alarming that the Kenyan government can unilaterally decide to hive off 50 acres from Imenti Forest, or 76 acres from the Nairobi National Park, so as to enable projects that mainly benefit members of the political and economic elite.

Unless urgent measures are taken to protect Kenya’s forests, we will continue experiencing droughts that negatively impact food production, given the fact that over 90 per cent of agriculture in Kenya is rain-fed. Heavy rains caused by climate change will continue to cause floods in low-lying areas like the Tana Delta and around Lake Victoria. Nairobi will flood again and again, while landslides caused by heavy rainfall will be witnessed in the highlands time after time.