Kenya Forest Service defends ongoing logging in Karura, Thogoto

The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has spoken out about the ongoing logging at Nairobi’s Karura Forest and Thogoto Forest in Kiambu County which has sparked uproar from Kenyans over its legality.

Recent photos and videos circulated widely on social media show trees felled in various sections of the two forests, with trucks ferrying the piles of logs along the roads.

Through a statement on Tuesday, KFS dismissed allegations that the logging is illegal. The agency said the operation is part of ongoing forest plantation harvesting countrywide in line with the government’s felling plan for the 2024/25 financial year.

“In Karura Forest harvesting exotic tree species for fuel wood and fencing posts is currently ongoing in an area of 6.3 hectares,” KFS said, adding that indigenous trees will be replanted during the March to May long rain season.

“The management plan for Karura Forest aims to convert the exotic plantations into natural forests for conservation purposes,” noted the agency.

In Thogoto, KFS said “mature and over-mature” forest plantations on 109.50 hectares are being harvested.

“Once complete, depending on the plantation age, some plantations will be left to coppice and will be managed according to the forest technical order while others will be replanted through plantation establishment and livelihood improvement scheme,” read the statement.

KFS said relevant announcements were displayed at Karura before the logging began and that documents detailing the logging in both forests are available to the public.

“Forest plantations are deliberately established to provide timber for the domestic market. This is different from indigenous forests, which are conserved for ecological integrity,” it added.