Kenya: KFS is looking to expand areas for forestry development in order to increase the country’s forest cover. Currently, Kenya’s gazetted forests occupy an area of approximately 2.6 million.
As demand for settlement and agricultural land increases, it is a key government objective to increase the area under forest cover in order to ensure sustainable development.
It is for this reason that the CCF Alex Lemarkoko led senior officers from KFS to Base Titanium’s mines in Kwale County to appreciate their rehabilitation program and begin discussions on the possibility of converting the area into a gazetted forest after the closure of their mining operations in December 2024.
The mine is close to forest patches that constitute the coastal forests of Eastern Africa Biodiversity hotspots. The Kwale Mine is located between Gogoni Gazi and Buda Forest stations, and the conversion of the over 4,000 ha into a forest will, therefore, create a continuous forest ecosystem with rich biodiversity.
The team was delighted to be hosted by the management of the company led by the Operations General Manager Denham Vickers, the External Affairs GM Simon Wall and the Environment Manager Nick Okello, who showed their rehabilitation efforts, which include growing indigenous trees.
While making a presentation on their exit strategy, the managers expressed their desire to have the mine converted into a conservation area with a strong emphasis on environmental education involving schools and colleges as the primary focus and in collaboration with the host community.
The CCF thanked the management of Base Titanium for their long-standing collaboration and support in forest conservation. He also congratulated them for establishing an impressive tree nursery with many rare and endangered tree species.
He also noted their annual tree-growing programme of planting at least 50,000 trees. He informed them of our desire to collaborate with them in order to produce at least five million seedlings annually using their enhanced nursery infrastructure.
Among the officers who accompanied me was the Principal of the Kenya Forestry College, Dr Elizabeth Wambugu, who said that the site will be an ideal location to train foresters on forest rehabilitation and management of coastal forests. We are looking forward to having fruitful deliberations with all stakeholders to advance forest conservation for the benefit of the country.