Tree Credit by Save Amazon project makes first reforestation in Kenya

In Kenya, the Tree Credit by Save Amazon project carries out the first reforestation in Africa. Nyandarua county was chosen for the first 100 seedlings planted along the bank of the malewa river.

Deforestation in Kenya is the process of reducing the area occupied by forest in Kenya.

In 1963 the forest occupied only 10% of the country, today it occupies only 2.5%.

According to a United Nations Environment Program study, the costs of deforestation in Kenya are four times greater than the gains from logging. Deforestation is estimated at US$68 million in 2010, compared to US$15 million in forest industry revenues.

Causes

Illegal logging is frequent and difficult for rangers to manage, each with around 600 hectares of forest to monitor. The other causes are land grabbing, charcoal use and the extension of agriculture, in addition to tourism development.

Consequences

After deforestation that disrupted the water cycle, the capital Nairobi suffers from a chronic lack of water. Observers note an increase in the cutting of trees along rivers, which endangers the survival of the ecosystem.

Reforestation

To curb deforestation, the government banned tree cutting for three months in early 2018 in an attempt to tackle the drought and food insecurity situation.

Reforestation experiments have already been carried out, which consist of dropping charcoal-coated seed bags by plane to combat deforestation. The goal is to replant 20 million new trees.

Written by Marcio Almeida