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Applying Science In The Rehabilitation Of Mau Complex
By Cosmas Butunyi D.N. Adopted from the daily Nation
of 18th Feb
2010.
Although overshadowed by politics, forestry experts
explain
that the
recent launch of reforestation of the Mau complex was preceded by a
number of studies some dating back to over a decade ago. "Quite a lot of
research was conducted on the forest through a range of projects to
prepare for its reclamation”, the Director of the Kenya Forestry
Research Institute (KEFRI) Dr. Ben Chikamai said.
Dr. Chikamai said that this was meant to develop an elaborate and
coordinated strategy for reclamation, based on concrete scientific
grounds and geared towards restoring the forest to its original status.
This ranged from careful selection of the species to be planted, to
tending the planted seedlings and protecting the complex from further
destruction.
The deputy director of KEFRI in charge of research and development Dr.
Bernard Kigomo says apart from the technical aspects, research was also
conducted on the socio-economic aspects of the rehabilitation process.
Species
Dr. Kigomo said that the perception that all that is required is
planting trees without taking the species into consideration is one of
the challenges that they are grappling with.
"This is dangerous as it may lead people to plant unsuitable species;'
he added. According to KEFRI, the process of reclaiming the country's
largest water tower that comprises of a block of 22 forests, involves
matching tree species with particular sites to ensure rapid restoration
of the forest.
In selecting the species to be planted, its rooting system, and hence
efficiency in water use, would also be taken into consideration for
reclamation of watersheds and areas along the river courses.
"We selected species that can be merged at different sites depending on
the level of degradation;” Dr. Chikamai said.
This, he added, was meant to ensure that right indigenous tree species
that were previously there or those that can match, are planted in the
forest's 100,000 hectares.
For these species, the flowering cycles and seeding characteristics of
these species had to be understood.
This would help the scientists to reconstruct the forest to its original
status before disturbance.
After a decision had been made on which tree
species to plant where, there was the daunting task of acquiring the
species and propagating them.
The strategy had been developed over the last decade and trials carried
out
In an earlier interview, Dr. Chikamai had indicated that KEFRI had lined
up strategies that included inter-planting different water-saving
species with shallow root species.
"While the shallow-rooted trees will hold the soil together and avoid
erosion, the deep-rooted ones will allow rainwater to percolate"; he
explained.
The conservation strategy, he indicated, had been developed over the
last decade and trials had been conducted at KEFRI's stations of
Londiani, Maseno and Kakamega that are surrounding the Mau forest
complex. Dr. Kigomo stated that demonstration plots had also been set up
to monitor the indigenous forests in the region and guide
rehabilitation. "We are monitoring the resources and the rate of off
take in terms of cut trees herbal medicine, honey production among other
uses to see the targeted species"; he said.
KEFRI is also engaged in a reclamation project in tea zones outside the
Mau, together with the Nyayo Tea Zones and the Kenya Forest Service with
support from the African Development Bank (ADB). Farmers are also being
encouraged to embrace tree planting to re duce pressure on the Mau
Complex and other indigenous forests.
Challenges
Dr. Kigomo said that though research had addressed several aspects of
the rehabilitation process, it still faced challenges to adequately
streamline the entire process.
These range from lack of information on the need to reclaim the degraded
forest and availability of resources to dealing with forest dwellers.
"We have to take into consideration the interest of genuine forest
dwellers such as the Ogieks’ and others”, he added.
Then there is the tending of the tree seedlings to maturity by ensuring
that responsible government arms and local communities play their role.
The rehabilitation process aims at restoring the forest cover to its
original state and reinstating its ecological functions.
The Mau Complex has been mapped according to the intensity of the
degradation and appropriate rehabilitation needs of each site developed.
KEFRI has outlined the rehabilitation interventions that ranged from
protecting the site from further disturbance in exposed areas of the
forest; to enrichment planting in destroyed parts that are unable to
regenerate; and reforestation in clear fields where all the trees have
been cleared.
The Mau Complex plays a huge ecological, economic and socio-cultural
function since it is a major catchment for 12 main rivers that drain
into Lake Victoria and the major Rift Valley lakes.
Livestock puts its economic value at 97.3 billions. This includes
benefits such as climate regulation and carbon fixing, tourism sector,
recreation, support to livestock and fisheries production, energy, as
well as wood and non-wood products.
Other functions played by the forest include ecosystem services, soil
erosion arrest, agriculture and its genetic resources capacity.
The rehabilitation of the Mau Complex was preceded by eviction of some
of the illegal encroachers. The first phase that involved small
landowners has already been conducted and the government has announced
plans to evict large landowners for the complex.
A report prepared by a taskforce on the Mau Forest warned that the
degradation of the forest could lead to disappearance of some rivers and
lakes, a decline agricultural productivity and possible disappearance of
national wildlife reserves.
Forest Cover
Prime Minister Raila Odinga has in the past said that the Mau tree
planting drive was the first step towards increasing the forest cover from
the current 1.7 per cent to at least 10 per cent by 2020
Mr Odinga stated that this was a drive towards catching up with other
African nations whose forest cover stand at an average 9.3 percent.
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