Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai urged Kenya's government on Monday to do more to protect and rehabilitate indigenous forests, saying decades of deforestation had contributed to the current drought.
The Kenyan government says at least 2.5 million people in the east African nation are on the brink of starvation due to severe drought, crop failure and depletion of livestock herds.
"The tragedies that this country is facing today such as drought, famine and poverty have been exacerbated by the gradual degradation of our environment -- including indigenous forests," Maathai, who was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her devotion to Africa's forests, said in a statement.
Kenya's original forests have depleted over last century, starting during the time of British colonial rule when forests were cut down to make way for commercial plantations that were used to supply emerging timber and paper industries.
After independence in 1963, deforestation continued legally and illegally, with trees cut down by settlers and squatters.
"The cumulative effect of such clear-cutting gradually reduced indigenous forest cover to what is now a meager 1.7 percent -- which is alarming considering that two-thirds of Kenya is arid, semi-arid and desert," Maathai said.
Maathai said Kenya needed at least 10 percent of its land mass under indigenous forest cover. She said this would help to secure sectors like agriculture, water supply, health, hydro-power, tourism, timber and paper industries.
"Unless we fully understand the linkages between indigenous forests and these economic sectors, we shall continue to trivialise both the role that these forests play in sustainable development, and the urgency with which Kenya needs to increase her already depleted indigenous forest cover."Reuters via Yahoo News
