The Milgis Trust

Category: Forest, Matthews range | Date: Dec 03 2008 | By: milgistrust

Unbelievably the researcher managed to cut trees down in 9 different places before the community discovered what was going on and went in to the Ngeng valley and chased them out… They were extremely angry… But the researcher has been back and has paid/has promised to pay the community money so that he can continue… Quite honestly I am disappointed with the community after all the good they did to stop the tree felling… Does this look like 12 meters radius… I think we both have a problem with Maths!! or meters..

Thank you for your notes about Ls research in the Mathews
Range. As Ls doctoral adviser, Head of dept., has asked me to respond.

Please note the attached letter, which indicates the approval process that
Ls pursued in Kenya. US law prohibits discussing details of student
records or activities without explicit permission, so feel free to contact
him directly.. Thank you for your concern… I have already tried this as per below…and the approval process letter did not come through..

Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 3:57 PM

Dear L, Please could you get in touch with me or the manager of the Milgis Trust, re the forest destruction in the Ngeng valley above Kittich camp… We are VERY CONCERNED… yours Helen and Moses Lesoloyia milgistrust@uuplus.com

Dear Mr H, Thanks for getting back to me… We are extremely concerned
> about the damage that has been done in the Matthews forest, in the name of
> research… think of it this way… 60 meters x 60 meters x 9 = 32400 meters
> squared of valuable forest has been cut down and he wants to cut more…
> …yes we know that Luca has the permits from the government… We’ve been
> through all this… Lots of money has passed hands, yes we know… But tell
> me what research through your university could possibly sanction tree
> cutting of such hugeness, in a remote pristine forest forest like this… I
> just don’t understand what you are thinking…
> All you need to do is look at the news and see whats happening in
> Africa, these government officials are willing to let any thing be
> destroyed if money is being offered..If the government were serious about
> looking after the environment we would not need to set up the Milgis Trust!
> Please please can we ask you to look into the reasons that more forest
> has to be cut down, surely what he has done is enough… These mountains are
> very very important to the arid areas around, and tree cutting in the name
> of research is embarrassing… all the best Helen

What is the motive here?.. These trunks cut into these sizes…

It really would be wise to contact L. directly - I am not at liberty to discuss details of his
work, by law, but he can. Your estimates of what he is cutting and what he
intends to cut are not accurate.

Thank you for your concern.

> Ok Sorry…if the area is 60 diameter its 2826 x 9 cleared so far its 25434
> square meters
> or lets give you the benefit of doubt.. [ a second report from another conservation group estimated each area was 50 meter Diameter]
> 50 diameter its 1963 x 9 cleared 17667
> square meters??
> I do apologise… Have I got it right now??
> let me put some pictures on wildlife direct blog for you to see thats
> its not just a maths problem I have!!
> I don’t think I have to say it again, as I’ve probably gone on but the
> damage in this beautiful pristine forest in the name of research is abit
> like the Japanese sending a ship off, with research written along the side,
> to kill whales for the Japanese people to eat!!…
> The only thing we want to know after all that I have mentioned in my
> emails before is … Is the University of Illinois at Chicago happy to know
> that indigenous trees in Kenya are being cut down… So many of us in Kenya
> are trying to stop the terrible destruction in all the forests….It is
> completely out of control throughout the country, and rivers are drying
> up… And you just seem so casual about it… Why doesn’t this guy stay in
> America, and cut trees down around the University or next to your home!!…
> Hes even got lots of money to give you….. Why does he need to do it here,
> is it cheaper??
> We are happy for you to send all this correspondence to L.. Thats
> fine by us..
> I was born and brought up in this country, and Kenyas biggest problem
> is trees being cut down at a uncountable rate, and L is adding to those
> numbers in the name of research… I can assure I’m not the only one that is
> unhappy.. H
>

FINALLY below is an email I received yesterday, from the researcher… I have sent it to the Manager for comment on the size, etc if this is correct I apologise, although I have seen two different reports saying larger…but this in my case is not the problem… it is the sheer fact that he was able to cut indigenous trees in the Matthews for research… I hope somebody can make out what the research is!!… I am confused…

Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 4:32 PM
Subject: Research in Kitich forest
Dear Mrs Dufresne
>
> I am L, the researcher who works in Kitich forest. I am
> writing to inform you about the purpose of my research.
>
> There was much confusion in the last weeks and lots of inaccurate things
> were said on my work Mathews range forest. I suggest that we should get in
> touch and exchange information between us to rectify those inaccuracies.
> Nothing in my activities is secret. As a researcher who specialises on
> conservation biology in tropical Africa - with more than 15 years of
> experience in the forests of Kenya - I would like the results of my work
> to find an application to conservation in practise, and it is saddening to
> see that the purpose of my research has so grossly been misunderstood.
>
> I am a forest ecologist, and I am aware of the conservation status of
> African forests - many of my past studies actually denounced the
> destruction of natural forests in Africa. However, in a country like
> Kenya, where 80% of the nation energy requirements are provided by wood,
> forest conservation must accommodate sustainable uses of natural resources
> by local peoples. My past research in northern Kenya suggests that nomadic
> people do not only have destructive impacts on forest biodiversity.
> Perhaps counterintuitively, I suspect that numerous species of animal and
> plants could actually benefit from the habitat diversity that is generated
> by activities of nomadic pastoralists in the forest. Of course, these
> activities should be properly managed and their effects carefully studied
> and understood.
>
> The primary purpose of my current research is to go a step beyond
> denouncing forest destruction. I am trying to find practical solutions,
> and I hypothesize that the traditional activities of local people can
> have a positive role in forest conservation. This same realization is
> beginning to materialize in many protected areas throughout Africa. For
> instance, Lewa recently started a community livestock grazing programme,
> acknowledging that carefully planned grazing can benefit both people and
> conservation (see: http://www.lewa.org/livestock-grazing.php). What I am
> trying to understand is whether something similar could be done even in
> forest habitats. My research is not wanton destruction but an attempt to
> understand if it possible to help local peoples to maintain their
> lifestyle and at the same time conserve biodiversity. In this purpose, I
> would like you and I to be partners, not enemies.
>
> I really look forward to hearing from you, and hopefully to meeting you
> soon. If we meet, I am sure you will quickly understand how I am in the
> reality.
>
> As a final note, I wish to rectify some of the inaccuracies found in Mr
> Lesoloya’s report.
>
> 1) the area affected by my research is tiny: I opened only 10 small forest
> gaps, each one of 12m radius (not 60m). The total area affected is
> therefore 4521 square meters - about an acre - in a forest of 300 sq km
> (the size of Mombasa town)
> 2) the selection of the site was done in order to minimize all types of
> impacts. There are no huge trees in my experimental gaps, no Piripirinti
> (Podocarpus falcatus), no Lporinga (Cordia africana). The largest trees in
> the site are Lmargueet (Croton africanus), most of which are already dying
> due to a fungal infection.
> 3) I live on a small university fellowship, and have no way whatsoever to
> produce large amounts of money. What I paid are simply the research fees
> that all researchers are required to pay when they work in Kenya or other
> African countries.
>
> With my best regards, L
>
>Dear L, Thanks for this email below, and the one this morning……Why
don’t you explain to the people reading the blog, what you are
doing…Actually I could put your letter on the blog… As you know I
have waited almost 3 months, since the community came into your camp to
evict you, before I decided the time was right, having tried a few channels
to contact you, find out from the forestry, UNEP, and through the University
to find out what is going on… You should know better if its true that you
have worked in the forests of Kenya for 15 years that cutting trees down in
an indigenous forest especially in the Matthews is not going to go down well
here.. As I have said to your head of dept, and your thesis adviser, there
are many people concerned about this tree cutting in the Matthews, not just
Milgis Trust…
I am happy to meet with you and to hear what you have to say, but on one
condition that no more trees are cut down in the Matthews… Unfortunately
the damage has been done… ‘what is done cannot be undone’ , but did you
the ‘forest lover’ not feel a ping of sadness, or have a conscious that
cutting these beautiful trees down is going to come back on you?? Quite
honestly I find it very difficult to believe that doing this damage to the
forest is going to help the communities live a better life, and isn’t it
just going to encourage them to cut trees, if you a foreigner can do it..,
maybe they will try!!?? yours Helen