Inside North Rift’s tree harvesting industry after President Ruto lifted ban on logging

The sound of a power saw welcomes us to a 22-hectare parcel of land in Chemususu Forest in Baringo County.

For every five minutes you’re, here a giant tree planted over 30 years ago, falls. It is a rush against time for Comply Industries workers who have to cut down 4,000 trees worth 18.7 million shillings within the next 45 days.

With heavy machinery deployed, a crew of eight are able to cut, collect and put the trees on a truck within 30 minutes.

Before the trees leave the harvesting area, a Kenya Forest Service ranger has to inspect the load and by use of a special hammer ensure that all trees get a special mark with a specific number allocated to each forest station.

This is the mark that inspectors along the road are able to identify as trees harvested legally and those illegally cut.

It is a daily routine that is supervised by two rangers whose roles are to ensure the saw millers stick to the felling plan provided by  Kenya Forest Service.

 “They are not going to harvest where the plantations are young or are not under the felling plan, we normally have felling plan these plantations were given under the felling plan so the plantations that were not under the felling plan for that particular year are not harvested, we harvest in plantation forest which are established with an objective of harvesting at a rotation age for commercial purposes,” Anna Nyaoke, the Baringo County Forest Conservator, says.

Nyaoke says those harvesting are the ones who had paid and allocated areas to cut down trees but were forced to stop after the moratorium came into effect back in 2018.

The process of issuing licenses to those pre-qualified to harvest trees in the authorized 5,000 hectares this year is still ongoing at the county level. Trees harvested for commercial purposes include Eucalyptus, Cyprus and Pine.

“In Baringo County we have eight stations where harvesting is going on, when the claims were being given out we have an area of about 65 hectares that is supposed to be harvested as we are talking now the only area that is already under harvesting is around 30 hectares because the letters are coming out in bits we have to scrutinize with the old records,” she says.

The County Forest Conservator says it has not been all smooth since the lifting of the moratorium as the ban had far-reaching effects on some of the plantations which were due for harvesting between 2018 and 2022.

“We have lost a lot recently there is an area of about 25 hectares that was given out in Maji Mazuri it was supposed to be harvested before the moratorium but because of the moratorium it was not harvested when we gave out the new allocation letters to the saw millers they were about 8 they have declined because when they started cutting all the trees are rotten, they are cyprus trees now they have returned the letter they want to be compensated and they had paid us 15 million,” says Nyaoke.

It is a shared concern among saw millers in this area who are happy to be back in business after a five-year struggle in search of the commodity.

Matthew Birir, a waw Miller, says, “Kama kutakuwa na another ban ni vizuri sisi kama saw millers tunapewa notice … Hatukuhusishwa nililipa Wednesday ikafungwa Saturday … When moratorium was in place, Tanzania was harvesting massively, Uganda was harvesting massively uliskia mvua ilipotea, this is a cycle and these are the activities lazima ipandwe na ikatwe miti ikipandwa lazima itasuck carbon.”

Another saw miller, Real Kimanyim, says “Wakati ilipofungwa niliniathirika sana kwa sababu ilifungwa haraka miti zingine tulikuwa tumelipa zikafungiwa ndani pesa ndio hiyo hakuna nilikuwa na loans, watoto walikuwa shule ikabidi niuze vitu na watoto waka defer masomo.”

For Joseph Cheruiyot, a saw miller in Baringo County with staff of 200, the lifting of the ban has led to a reduction of the price of timber by at least 15,000 shillings per tonne.

“Ile wakati misitu ilikuwa imefungwa miti ilikuwa scrace na bei ilikuwa juu sasa mtu angeleta order likuwa 55, lakini ile mtu alikuwa anakuja anapata mbao iko tayari anapata na 50 lakini saa hii imeteremka mpaka 40 kwa sababu tumepata miti na miti ni mingi,” he says.

Albert Kipkirui, a member of the Lembus Council of Elders, says “Kama wazee wa jamii tunaomba serikali kabisa kuwe na management plan katika misitu, kuwe na felling plan na isikatwe kiholela sababu msitu yetu ya Narasha ina backlog kubwa sana sababu ilikatwa bila mpangilio ndio ilituudhi so wakati huu tunaona hatutaangukia namna hiyo.”

For large-scale players like Raiply Timber Company in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County the effects of the ban are still visible … A tour of the company and one cannot fail to note the machines which for the last five years have remained switched off due to lack of enough raw materials.

Over 3000 employees were laid off after the government announced the moratorium.

Joseph Mungai, the Forestry Manager at Raiply says, “Tunatarajia kuanza mwezi wa nane lazima mashine zitakuwa zimeanza kukimbia sababu tunaleta miti kidogo kidogo kwa sabbat ya mvua lakini tukipata mahali mzuri hao watu wote 3,000 watarudi kazi.”

The management says they have started harvesting 5000 trees at Kipkorer Forest where they were supposed to harvest before the ban.

For Rivatex Textile Company, their 24-hour operation was reduced to at least three days a week when the ban came to effect … Their steam boilers which are the main engine in the textile industry had to depend on wood from private farms.

But for now, it is business as usual as they receive more wood for their boilers.

In neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet County, preparations of tree seedlings at the Elgeyo Forest Station are on course.

Out of a total of 250,000 seedlings at the station, 150,000 seedlings are ready for planting in areas where harvesting is currently ongoing. Another 20,000 seedlings in the hands of the Community Forest Association is also ready for the next planting season.

In this area inside the Elgeyo forest where harvesting took place in 2017 before the ban, trees are growing next to the stumps.

Next to it is another parcel of land where maize is growing side by side with trees and nd another one where farmers are growing potatoes next to trees.

Farmers here are given a half-acre piece of land to grow crops and plant trees for a period of three years before leaving the farms for trees to grow.

“Mimi nalima pointi nne, nalima viazi na viazi pointi nne inaeza toa mazao karibu gunia 80 alafu ukihesabu kwa gunia moja inaweza kuwa 200,000 … Ya forest iko na mbolea mingi kushinda ya nyumbani unatumia mbolea kidogo ukilinganisha na nyumbani,” says Johana Cheruiyot, a farmer.

Thomas Chepkieng, the Chairman of CFA Elgeyo, says “Sisi tumehamasisha jamii zetu vikamilifu na tumeshirikiana na KFS kuhamasisha jamii inapofika mwaka wa kutoka baada ya miaka tatu hata miche yenye itakutoa … KFS pia imejitolea kupea members eneo mbadala … Tunafuata taratibu kwa sababu ile wakati tunapanda chakula tunatoa ile weeds.”

Here farmers tend to their crops as saw millers cut down the plantations where they are expected to move to in a few months’ time.

A visit to one of the areas where harvesting is being done and we find these men busy loading trees on a truck using their own hands without the help of heavy machinery. Next to them is another group using heavy machinery to carry out the same work.

Gilbert Kipchirchir, a resident of Elgeyo, says “Tunapanga kama trela sita au saba tunalipwa elfu mbili au tatu … Hali ilikuwa ngumu wakati hiyo na tulikuwa tunapata pesa yetu ya kila siku … Saa hii tunafurahia kwa sababu pesa tunapata mingi … Tunaanza kazi saa tatu asubuhi na by 5 tunakuwa tumefunga na tunapata shilingi elfu nne.”

“When it comes to knowing the number of trees, I count all the trees it takes me about a week I then submit to Nairobi if it is 20,000 trees then I sample for heights, then send the raw data to Nairobi that is where they process for bill,” notes Nancy Batote of the Forester Inventory at Kaptagat.

Anthony Musyoka, the Regional Forest Conservator, says “Illegal logging these are scattered cases that come on and off, within the region we have had several cases any case that we have been able to arrest we have taken necessary measures to prosecute them,  Encroachments are issues we still have to deal with them because of the dynamics … These are not people who just move there the other day these are long cases of people who moved in the 1980s and 1990s.”

Another effect of the ban was an influx of timber from the neighbouring countries … A visit to the Malaba border and here more trucks arrive with timber from Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

Kennedy Ombati the Forester Incharge at Malaba, says “In a day we are able to clear forest products from DR Congo carrying mahogany around 10 to 20 trucks a day and in a month it is a 100 trucks of mahogany … For the pines we can clear about 112 trucks in a month from Uganda.

But amidst the harvesting and the revival of the timber industry in the country is a major concern by environmentalists on whether the lifting of the moratorium will deal a blow to the gains made in protecting the environment and forests at large.

Another key concern is whether the Ministry of Environment has implemented the short, medium and long-term recommendations made by the task force that recommended the ban and which included the proposal to vet serving KFS personnel, audit Kenya Forest Service books and systems, develop the capacity of Kenya Forest Services, a review of all internal administrative and technical operating structures among other recommendations.

“Hatutakubali miti ianze kukatwa kiholela na ndio ikose kukatwa kiholela lazima tuwapee hao pesa ndio wawe na watu wa kuangalia hiyo kazi ya miti vizuri wawe wakiangalia kila mahali … Tumeweka maanani wakati pesa zitapewa ministries tutatembea kwa kaunti zote zina forest tujue vile miti inapandwa,” says Joseph Wainaina, a member of the National Assembly Environment Committee.

Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya while defending government's decision to lift the moratorium said they will be more strict and swift in dealing with those flouting the protocols put in place including KFS officials.

Tuya has also said that the harvesting is in compliance with the guidance from the Auditor General as well as the established sustainable harvesting and replanting capacity of Kenya Forest Service.