Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has launched a stern warning against Chinese and Indian companies involved in illegally logging immature trees in Kenya. This comes just five days after he announced a ban on the exportation of robusta eucalyptus tree bark to protect local forests from deforestation.
Duale revealed that foreign companies are persuading local traders to cut down immature trees, offering them meager payments while profiting by selling processed wood products back to Kenya at inflated prices. “The countries do value addition and come and sell to us as finished products at expensive prices targeting companies that make marine boats,” Duale stated.
Highlighting the economic repercussions, he lamented, “Kenya loses billions of shillings from the illegal trade of trees due to a lack of regulatory frameworks.” Official reports indicate that one company exported 420,000 units on July 10 alone, taking advantage of low export duties.
Duale also stressed the need to protect local traders from exploitation, raising concerns over the potential threat to Kenya’s ambitious plan to plant 15 billion trees by 2030. “How do we convince Kenyan citizens and private sector players to plant trees when there are individuals cutting immature trees and sending them to China?” he questioned.
Additionally, he pointed out that these firms were expelled from neighboring Uganda and Tanzania for similar illegal activities, reinforcing the urgency of his directive to safeguard Kenya’s environmental integrity.
