Environmentalist Isaac Kalua Green has insisted that there is an urgent need to increase Kenya’s green cover, days after President William Ruto lifted the ban on logging activities in the country’s forests and water catchment areas.

Speaking in a local radio interview on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, Kalua noted that the current forest cover in Kenya stands at 7.9 and 8.8 per cent, adding that there is still more to be done to increase the percentage, instead of resuming logging activities. He added that the particular ban was imposed based on scientific findings.

Kenya’s forest cover

”Kenya’s forest cover stands between 7.9% and 8.8%, which means we still need to increase it significantly. The logging ban was based on a very scientific process. We visited different parts of the country and compiled a report that showed there was no other option but to impose the ban,” Kalua said.

He added that growing trees and increasing the nation’s forest cover could be beneficial to the country’s income generation. ”Growing trees and increasing forest cover could become one of the biggest income earners, because people can easily be engaged to fence off areas and allow trees to regenerate,” Kalua said.

President Ruto made the logging ban reversal announcement on Monday, October 27, during the launch of the Mau Forest Complex Integrated Conservation and Livelihood Improvement Programme in Elburgon, Nakuru County.

He said the decision would help revive the local timber and furniture industries and create jobs for Kenyan youth.
“We shall reopen your timber factory here. We will use our own timber to make furniture. The furniture that will be used in Kenya will be made from locally produced wood, and it is our Kenyan youth who will make that furniture,” Ruto said.

PLP’s protest

Meanwhile, Isaac Kalua’s remarks come at a time when the People’s Liberation Party (PLP), led by Martha Karua, has asked President William Ruto to reverse his latest move of lifting the ban on logging.

”Mr Ruto’s argument for lifting the ban rests on the claim that forests are overstocked with ‘mature trees’ that need to be harvested to create space for regeneration. That sounds neat on paper, but in practice, it is messy and untidy, because once the floodgates open, illegal loggers, corrupt officers, and politically connected cartels will exploit the chaos. We have seen this movie before, and it never ends well,” the PLP statement released on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, said in part.