Conserve Nyakweri Forest, Narok residents urged

Narok County residents living near Nyakweri Forest have been urged to plant trees on public and private land to protect the forest.

Speaking at the official launch of a three-day Forest rehabilitation workshop in Kilgoris, Environment Principal Secretary Charles Sunkuli said that the water tower will be protected for generations to come only if residents took up the role of planting trees.

“We are not here to find out who the land belongs to, I want to encourage each one of you to plant trees whether it is on private or public land. We want to ensure that the rivers flowing from the forest continually supply water for generations to come,” he said.

On his part, Kilgoris MP Gideon Konchella noted that conserving the forest would reduce human-animal conflict, as the wild animals will have enough supply of food.

“If we destroy Nyakweri forest then the wild animals will start going to people’s farms looking for food and that will bring about human-animal conflict. The more we conserve the forest, the more peaceful we will be because we will have given these animals their space,” the MP advised.

According to Nyakweri residents, illegal charcoal burning remains a big challenge in the area as the charcoal burners also cause  fires in the forest.

Nyakweri Forest is one of the largest forests left in Transmara region, covering approximately 300 Square Kilometres.