an URGENT NEED TO SECURE
AND PROTECT WITU FOREST

a SITE OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE WITHIN EASTERN
ARC MOUNTAINS AND COASTAL FORESTS HOTSPOTS

Coastweek.com - - When a delegation of United Nation Environmental Programme [Unep] and other stakeholders called on the Prime Minister Raila Odinga a fortnight ago to demand for the restoration of the Mau Complex, it was evident a new era was being ushered.

For the first time we are seeing a government that was willing to take head-on an emotive environmental issue that has life threatening implications.

What followed is even more encouraging as we witnessed a government that was more engaging as it sought for a permanent solution to the Mau conflict.

Kudo's, this is the way to go.

Kenyans expects that the government will accord a similar attention to other highly explosive environmental issues facing the country.

However as the government address Mau conflict, there is a fresh call.

This time round, its Coast region.

A red flag has been raised in the Coast amid emerging reports that forest cover in the Northern part of region had declined by an alarming rate of 75 per cent in the past 10 years.

Reason ? Human activities and the ever increasing demand for land for agricultures are straining the fragile forest biodiversity in the region.

Of concerns at the moment is the destruction witnessed in Witu Forest, in Tana River District.

Thousands of exotic and indigenous trees have been cut down in the past few months by illegal loggers.

The unimaginable destruction of the indigenous and exotic trees has been prompted by the sudden demand for timber by the population living on Witu I and Witu II Settlement schemes.

The two settlement schemes are found on the edges of Witu Forest and inside an established Kipini Wildlife Conservancy and Botanical Conservancy Trust [KWBCT].

The unabated destruction of Witu Forest threatens several animal and birds tagged as fast facing imminent extinction.

Also at stake is conservation activities spearheaded by the KWBCT.

The conservancy which has been struggling to save endangered species within the Witu biodiversity shares a common boundary with Witu Forest.

Since the end of the Shifta's insurgencies investors in the tourism industry keen to establish nature-based tourism, have turned there focus on Tana River and Ijara districts, where Witu Forest is located, owing to its serene settings.

The indiscriminate logging now threatens a plant species Euphorbia Tanaensis, an exotic indigenous tree which is among the nine species of tree found in the 42 sq km. expansive Witu Forest and part of the Nairobi Ranch owned by the Swaleh Nguru family.

The tree is listed by IUCN 2002 Red list of threatened species.

The only elephant migratory corridor that continues to exist in East African Coast has not been spared.

This corridor which has brought Northern Coastal frontier to attention of conservationists faces imminent threat owing to the ever increasing ecological degradations.

Recent aerial photographs show that the individuals behind the logging have not only been targeting matured indigenous trees that dot the forest but also those which are not fully grown.

This undermines the replenishing process of the forest cover.

It has been noted that timber sourced from this forest is sold within the area but as far as Malindi.

East African Wildlife Society, which boasts of elaborate networks in Tana River and Lamu, has cautioned that the destruction of the forest will impact adverse on the riverine ecosystem in Tana Delta, known to support two species of monkeys facing extinction.

World Bank funded Global Environmental Facility [GEF] has provided the government with a multi-million shilling grant to support a campaign to conserve both the Red Colobus and the Crescent Mangabey.

Further it is imperative to note that the forest has a direct linkage to the rainfall pattern in the area, which supports agriculture, the main bread earner for many villagers in the area.

A feasibility done KWBC and funded by the Finnish government has warned that the destruction of the Witu forest puts in the balance wildlife and botanical conservancy activities in the Tana River that acts as a vital catalyst towards fulfilling international recognized conservation objectives for threatened Coast plants and ecosystem.

According to the study Witu and its environs harbours an assembly of Coastal habitats and species that have high conservation interests that is becoming increasingly rare.

The report further says in part "there is great need to establish educational outreach programmes to sensitise the community on the importance of the protection of the forest and its biodiversity,"

The conservancy holds real prospects of offering sustainable economic activities and natural products, all of which could easily be lost to environmental degradation.

Witu Forest and its extension that covers beyond it is a designated site of critical importance within the globally important Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests hotspots.

It has been identified by the Conservation International and continues to receive the supported of Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund [CEPF].

The forest offers natural vegetation that present an important opportunity for sensitive integration of conservation and development.

Witu Forest represents a corridor of unspoilt and varied natural habitants linking the Coastline to the hinterland.

The forest is a natural refuge for animals and plants strategically linking coast with natural tourist centre of Lamu and the under developed hinterland between the Tana River and Somali border.

According to Myers, Burgess & Lovett 1999, the forest cover has declined by more than 75 per cent.

This is attributed to clearance of land for agricultural use, logging, charcoal burning and wildfires.

Further the forest is embedded in grasslands, savannah wood-lands and bushland, that provides a good habitat for rare species of Hirola antelopes, whose number according to IUCN, have been declining too at an alarming rate.

Also facing extinction owing to degradation of forest cover is a population of African elephants the was once abundant but now elusive

There is all need to push for the protection of all forest if the elephant migratory corridor is to remain as heritage for the future generations.

Adverse effects on the forest cover is likely to result in the elephants changing their lifetime journey along the Coastal ecological system that has tourism related economical benefit for the indigenous.

In a recent study funded by the Finnish Embassy, Dr. Tim Wacher supports activities by the conservancy saying they will help to preserve highly diverse habitat.

The coastal marine ecosystem adjacent to the conservancy is part of the Global 200 eco region.

It supports a great diversity of animal and plant life and is known to be a turtle nesting ground.

Several species of whales and dolphins are found in the waters offshore, as well as the globally threatened dugong (Dugong dugon).

The part of the conservancy that borders the Tana River delta is a stop-over and wintering grounds for many migratory bird populations.

The area also provides habitat for threatened shorebirds and seabirds.

There is urgent need to secure and protect Witu Forest.

Dr. Umar Farouk Sherman, Chairman, Kipini Wildlife Conservancy and Botanical Conservancy Trust [KWBCT] .