Race against time to save Mount Kenya
By Harriet James, March 3, 2020
Harriet James @harriet86jim
Recently, people from all walks of life, both young and old, gathered at the Borana Conservancy for the Tropical Air 10to4 Mountain Bike Challenge.
Amidst pouring rain, mist and fog, more than 100 rangers and volunteers stood at designated water spots to support the initiative.
Now in its 18th year, the 10to4 event raises funds for the conservation of the forest on the Mount Kenya Forest, which is one of the water catchment areas in the region.
“It’s about the mountain and remembering our environment and this amazing region that we live in.
It’s also about bringing people together from all walks of life for a cause that the environment that we live in, protects us and feeds us,” says Mount Kenya Trust (MKT) executive director Susie Weeks.
Forest fires
More than four million Kenyans live in the six counties on the fertile slopes surrounding Mount Kenya where rainfall is highest.
In addition, millions of people in Nairobi, areas around the Tana River Delta, across north western Kenya, and even as far away as the Somali border, rely on water from rain that falls on the mountain.
However, threats to the mountain including illegal logging, wildlife poaching, and overgrazing, risk destroying the fragile ecosystem.
Meru county Ecosystem Conservator, John Njoroge, says that there is a moratorium being enforced to curb illegal logging that’s driven by high demand for timber and firewood.
“In the past people used to plant cannabis sativa, but the enhanced enforcement has curbed this problem,” he says.
Last year, the region experienced wildfires that lasted for three months.
“It was frightening. The 10to4 gives us that little cushion to cater unforeseen expenses such as feeding the rangers who are out there fighting the fire, get them new tools, more safety equipment.
Such funds don’t come easily from the government entities such as the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) as they have limited resources to handle such emergencies,” explains Weeks.
Though they managed to contain the wildfires with limited resources, putting out the fire required the right equipment, which they didn’t have.
The generosity of the communities living around the region along with the many Kenyans and well-wishers from abroad went a long way to quell the situation.
“We had people sending money from Sh50 to Sh70,000 on M-Pesa, which means that people cared.
We were so empowered by that and used the cash to save the mountain. We also trained a team of 60 firefighters in December 2019 for the fire seasons, so that they are better equipped and seasoned to handle such emergencies.
We had experts from South Africa and had intense training where we learnt the basics of handling wildfires,” says Weeks.
MKT depends on the funds raised from this event to also pay the rangers’ salaries and fence human-conflict zones. Weeks says that illegal activity has decreased since a landmark 999 aerial survey.
Large-scale logging has also declined and there is an impressive forest generation.
Where forests were destroyed in the 1990s, MKT is working to ensure indigenous trees are re-planted.
“The Mount Kenya Trust’s horseback patrol team has seen a 50 per cent reduction in illegal activities they encountered between 2014 and 2015, from 168 to 81 incidents including logging, grazing and snaring,” says Weeks.
MKT has been in operation for about 20 years. Through partnerships with KWS and KFS, the organisation is involved in several community projects that range from hiring rangers to promoting health among women by providing family planning.
MKT is also involved in energy saving projects and protection of wildlife corridors.
“The partnership is expanding, especially with the increase of resource base.
We have expanded the areas being rehabilitated and are restoring areas such as Lower Imenti Forest by removing the invasive species of Lantana Kamara, a flowering plant that tends to push out native plants and livestock find it unpallatable,” explains Njoroge.