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"speaker_name": "Mr. Lessonet",
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"legal_name": "Moses Lessonet",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to second the Motion by Mr. Kaino. Forests in Kenya have really been devastated. We do not want to overemphasise the July 16, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1859 importance of forests as a source of livelihood in this country. We know what is done as residents of this country to destroy our forest. That is the reason why I am here today to support this Motion. The Cherangany Hills Forest is just one of the catchment areas for Lake Victoria, like the Mau Complex Forest and some parts of our forest in Koibatek District. We are here today so that in 20 years or 100 years' time, we are able to sustain the livelihoods in this country and the sources of our water. When you look at the forests in this country, not only the Cherangany Hills Forest, but all the forests, you will see that there is illegal logging going on. Even in the forests which we did not participate in planting, that is the indigenous forests, illegal logging is going on. That is where the rivers in that region start flowing. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, deforestation is going on even in the Arid and Semi- Arid Lands (ASALs) like the lower parts of Koibatek District and Baringo District. There are no trees there and deforestation is going on. A very prominent issue in the ASALs is the Sandal Wood. Its scientific name is \"Mormorwet\". There is a lot of illegal harvesting of that species. I hope we are here today so that the Government may protect the forests which were planted by the Government, the indigenous forests and the rare species of trees like the Sandal Wood in the ASALs. A few weeks ago, several lorries were intercepted by the police in Marigat and were taken to Kabarnet. They have been off-loaded in Kabarnet and the Sandal Wood has been destroyed. This practice is so rampant that if the Government does not take action through such Motions, then we shall be in for surprises in the near future. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to ask myself the reason for the illegal logging. Why is it that 20 years ago there were only 20 people in Cherangany Hills, but there are now 100,000 people there? The basic reason is unemployment. The rate of unemployment is so high that even if we were to take the entire Kenya Army, Kenya Police and Prisons to go and throw a ring around the forest, they will not succeed. We have very many youths out there who are unemployed, and the only source of livelihood, or income, is to go into that forest to either burn charcoal or cut timber. How do we then sort out the issue of unemployment, so that we can stop our youth from going into the forests? One suggestion which, I hope, will add value to this Motion, is that we want to do forest farming. We want the Government to finance us. For example, in Mau Forest, where there are over 100,000 people, the Government should allow those people to stay there but tell them to plant trees. We should tell them that the only thing that they can plant in Mau Forest is trees and not maize. It is very cheap for us to plant trees. I have done my calculation and found that you only need Kshs25,000 per year, per hectare. For example we can say that we are going to plant 500 trees per hectare and the Government should pay Kshs50 per tree which will total to Kshs25,000. In ten years time, that tree will be ready for harvesting. The Government will have paid Kshs500 for that farmer to plant trees and not maize. After ten years, that tree can be sold by the Government for over Kshs4,000. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we can even go all the way to Egypt, which is the main beneficiary of Mau Forest, Cherangany Hills and all the water sources from this country. Egyptians can finance us to plant trees in our forests and farms. So, those youths who will be going to the forest to harvest trees will also be planting trees at a cost of Kshs50 per tree, per year. Our farmers will really appreciate that. That is one way in which we can stop our youth from going to the forest. At the time of the creation of this world, there was the Garden of Eden and human beings were not supposed to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of this Garden. As human beings, we objected to that instruction. We went there, harvested that fruit and due to that all mankind was put on hard labour to date. When we also came into this world, there were trees which we did not plant. I want to believe that we were also forbidden forbidden from destroying, but we are now 1860 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 16, 2008 harvesting them. This is putting mankind to more curse. You will be surprised that if we continue this way, there will be no surface water in the next 20 years. There are rivers in my district which we could not cross when we were going to primary school over 25 years ago. You will be surprised that no water has flowed in those rivers for the last ten years; the reason being deforestation. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this country has seen a lot in forests. We have seen people go to Mau Forest and allocate themselves 20,000 acres to plant tea. Those were senior Government officials. We have seen excision and degazettement of forests. When you go to Cherangany you will realize that we degazzetted some areas in the name of planting tea. Yes, we have not planted as much tea in Cherangany but succeeded in destroying the forest. We have succeeded in showing our youth the way into the forest. I want to believe that the Government has a very important role to play in this matter, and so does this Motion. In 20 years time, we should be able to restore the forest to the way it was 20 years ago, so that those streams which were stopping us from going to school 20 years ago can stop our children from going to school 20 years from now. When those rivers start flowing heavily, then that will be a sign that we will have succeeded in afforestation. I want to believe that the Government is very serious and that it is going to appreciate what I have just mentioned in terms of forest farming. We are not going to succeed in evicting those already in the forest, but let us make them plant trees. Let us stop them from charcoal burning and then finance them to plant trees. Our agenda is not for people not to stay in the forests, but for trees to continue being there. We need to finance them and go to Egypt so that they give us Kshs25 million for tree planting, otherwise the River Nile will not flow again. With those few remarks, I beg to second the Motion."
}