Govt accused of condoning degradation of the Kaya

By Antony Gitonga

Environmentalists are raising concern over the degradation of the Kaya forest at the Coast. They accuse the Government of doing little to save the historical and sacred forests.

The experts have identified wood-fuel extraction, tourism development, sand and coral block quarrying and minerals prospecting as the leading causes of the destruction.

Illegal allocations of Kaya land to rich and influential individuals were also cited as major contributors.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature   Kwale County coordinator Elias Kimaru, the situation is made worse by the fact that the Kaya boundaries are not clear and the ownership issue is yet to be addressed.

Kimaru says the forests were once treated as sacred grounds, but this has changed mainly due to modernity and diminishing appreciation of Kaya values.

“Despite the national and global significance, kaya system is today facing increasing threats than ever before from both internal and external sources,” Mr Kimaru told the Standard on phone.

The kaya forests are historical and sacred fortified villages of the Mijikenda people along the Kenya Coast.

No Vehicles

Kimaru accused the State of doing little in saving the forests which have rich biodiversity with survey indicating that more than half of Kenya’s rare plants are found in Coast.

He said the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), which is mandated to look after such historical sites, is underfunded.

“The Government through NMK has consistently been reducing support to Coast Forest Conservation Unit almost crippling its operations,” he said.

Kimaru said the body did not have a single vehicle, no operations gadgets and lacked basic equipments like computers.The sentiments were echoed by Onesmus Macharia who noted that 42 kaya forests have been already been gazetted as National Monuments, 26 in Kwale County and 16 in Kilifi County.