The Milgis Trust

Category: Forest, Livestock, Matthews range, Samburu | Date: Dec 05 2008 | By: milgistrust

The amount of time I’ve spent on my computer, due to this forest destruction in the beautiful Matthews forest, is ridiculous and sometimes one thinks… Its just a drop in the ocean, compared to some of the things that are happening.. But then I don’t sleep, thinking about it.. WHAT FOR?? WHY CUT THESE TREES?..Then who is this person who cut the trees, the university advisers, the person who gave out the permits, probably people who’ve never been to the northern mountains..which incredibly have managed to keep out of the charcoal problems, and logging..The main damage to these forests is fires, of which we’ve battled with, as you know, with very little support..Also when it is very dry, and there is trouble in the west with the Turkana, the nomads tend go up into the forests, and unfortunately, if there is no grass, tend to cut trees down to save there cows from starvation… But they do not win quite often, and when the rains come its quite often a disaster for the cow population… I know that Kenya has recently had a change in the forestry department, and we all hope its a good thing, but this permit being issued has really shocked us.. Any way… see below the MT manager, says he’s not going to be maligned.. He saw for himself and he did-not like what he saw…

Response from the Milgis Trust Manager…to comments made by Luca about his report!!

Luca…It is clear that you have done some damage to the forest, and you are now trying to reduce the magnitude of this destruction…

1. Plots size. I am certainly not the only one that came up with 50/60 meters diameter…To the best of my knowledge… Even the MP counted 50 steps to measure the size of the plots that were cut, and others that came in from Wamba.. I counted 56 long steps in one cut plot and 60 in one not cut but marked with tapes.But because of the damage to the trees around the plots, I felt that 60 is fair to say… Leadekei from KWS also visited the area and could also be asked to give his measurement. I think the photos show even that the areas are bigger that 24 m. diameter… Is this really the issue??.. What ever the size its not ‘on’, in this day and age….

2. Over 80% of the kitich forest is Lmargueet and destroying it alone is no excuse. Cutting indigenous forest is damage no matter what tree it is. .Every tree that was growing in those plots, was cut down, what ever kind of tree.. Luca should realise that all the cut trees are lying dead in the forest and should evidence be needed it is all there. Everybody who went there knows this.

3. In my opinion what luca says is his purpose of research does not match the activities of his research?. What does nomads way of life have to do with felling trees with power saws?. How does pollination or seeds dispersal relate to clearing of gaps in the forest?. Where will the birds he mentions in his notes live, if the trees are cut down…

4. To who did luca pay the research fees to and for what purpose and why after the community had chased him away?…. Luca you should be honest. You only came to the open and to get papers signed by the community after you were chased away, why didn’t you speak to the community before you started cutting trees down..

My comment today is… Luca you have replied to Anna, and told her that ‘remember people living in Northern Kenya are very poor’…Sorry but certainly the people living around the Matthews are not poor, compared to many many other areas in Africa, but they will be poor if their water flow, from the Matthews stops due to forest destruction..Also there are very few people living in these mountains permanently, so who are you going to evict… Yes the population increase in the world generally, is posing a threat to all mountains, and this is a very serious worry..

One more thing…If you have nothing to hide… Many people have asked me this same thing…Who were the other people involved, helping you cut the trees, and the way all the trunks have been cut into neat sized logs, and numbered.. What were you going to do with them… Finally please explain.. TO US ALL… IN AS SHORT AS YOU LIKE… WHY YOU CUT THESE GAPS IN THE FOREST… WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT, IN THESE GAPS…BECAUSE SO FAR WE DON’T UNDERSTAND…