The Makueni County Commissioner (CC), Maalim Mohammed has decried the mushrooming of real estates in the country for interfering with the ecosystem.
Mohammed said much of our agricultural and forest land has been cleared for the purpose, adding that quick measures need to be taken to reverse this worrying trend.
He said there is need to do proper planning on human activities in order to avoid further environmental degradation.
The CC said gazetted forests must be protected at all costs, noting that conservation was a collective responsibility of every citizen.
“We need to utilize our environment sustainably and stop over exploitation for posterity. Conservation is a collective responsibility of everyone,” said Mohammed when he chaired a conservation consultative forum organized by Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA) in his Wote office Boardroom on Wednesday.
On her part, the KWTA Director Corporate Services in charge of Project Planning and Implementation, Bahati Keranga Mwita called for multi-agency approach in conserving the environment.
Mwita observed that it was imperative for key environment players to pool resources together in an effort to build synergy on conservation and reverse negative effects of environmental degradation.
She urged the local communities to change their negative attitude on the conservation of water tower ecosystems.
“I encourage all stakeholders in conservation to work towards attaining common objectives,” she said.
Mwita led a team to Makueni County to collect views in regard to the best way to liaise with a view to coming up with communication strategy which they are developing.
Others present in the meeting included KWTA Regional Officer, Miriam Mutuku, non-state actors and county departmental heads involved in conservation.
By Patrick Nyakundi
