Narok County Commissioner Kipkech Lotiatia has warned Narok residents against cutting down cedar trees, as the tree species takes a long time to mature.
Lotiatia, who spoke in a public rally held at Kamoja area in Narok Central Sub County reiterated the benefits of the indigenous trees in environmental conservation and called for their protection.
“The reason why the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) does not issue a license to cut down or transport cider trees is because they take a long to mature, some of these trees are over 100 years old,” he said.
He reiterated that it was a crime to transport cider timber or post, as the government does not issue licenses for the transportation of the indigenous tree.
“If you have cider at your timber yard, you should explain how you got it and how it was transported to your premises because no license is given to deal with cider,” he reiterated.
The forester warned residents against burning charcoal for sale saying this is the major threat to the conservation of the environment.
“If we continue destroying our environment, we will continue suffering the impact of erratic weather. We have seen flash floods washing away people, animals and properties in our county because of lack of trees,” he observed.
However, he thanked the community for collaborating with his office to give credible information that has led to compact Forest Crime Destruction.
“The residents have been giving credible information that led to the arrest of criminals destroying our forests. We have so far collaborated to conserve Limanet, Loita and Nkaretta forests that were at the verge of total destruction,” he said.
He asked residents to work with technical officers at the forest office to advice on the best trees to plant in their farms and compounds as trees do well in specific ecological zones.
His advice comes at a time when the Kenya Kwanza Government is implementing its ambitious plan to plant over 15 billion tree seedlings in 10 years, with 30 percent of the trees being fruit trees.
By Ann Salaton
