LIMURU, KIAMBU — Residents living adjacent to public forests in the uplands of Limuru, Kiambu County, are calling on the government to provide clear guidelines on responsible grazing practices. This plea comes in response to the Kenya Forest Service’s (KFS) recent implementation of stricter controls over grazing in an effort to preserve reforestation areas.
According to Kenya News Agency, there is a significant need for education on how to properly graze livestock in public forests without hindering the KFS’s forest restoration efforts. The call for clarity follows the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, Soipan Tuya’s announcement earlier this year, stating a prohibition on grazing in public forests as part of a broader national tree-growing campaign to prevent damage to newly planted seedlings.
Peter Wachira, a local resident of Githirioni in Lari subcounty who grazes his livestock in the Uplands forest, emphasized the community’s desire to cooperate with forestry officials. “The CCF is supposed to ask the forest station managers, county forest conservators, and their staff to teach us on how to graze in Public Forest in a guided way so that we do not interfere with their work. We want to be law-abiding people,” Wachira stated. He shared his concerns about potentially violating the law without proper guidelines.
The KFS has indicated that enforcement of grazing regulations will be stepped up, requiring grazers to obtain a permit and register with local forest stations to monitor and control grazing activities. These measures aim to foster conservation while involving the community, which benefits from forests through grass harvesting, grazing, and tourism under the Community Forest Association.
John Mwathi, an official with the Uplands Community Forest Association, supported the new regulations, asserting that they would bring discipline and order to forest management. “Now, the law will assist us in ensuring there is discipline within the CFA’s and the grazers,” Mwathi commented, proposing a meeting to educate all stakeholders about the new law.
He also expressed the community’s commitment to supporting government and KFS initiatives aimed at achieving President William Ruto’s directive to plant 15 billion trees by 2023. Last month, CS Tuya reiterated that grazing disrupts reforestation efforts, especially in areas where new tree planting has taken place, underscoring the need for stringent enforcement to protect these investments.
The Kenya Forest Service manages approximately 6.4 million acres of gazetted forests and another 420 million acres under county jurisdiction, with Kiambu County alone hosting six major forests including Kieni and Kinale, covering a total area of 426.62 square kilometers.