(Posted 08th February 2025)
Courtesy of African Elephant News, Mbugua Macharia and Barnabas Bii, Nation
Restoration of the degraded Mt Elgon ecosystem, one of the country’s five water towers, has received a major boost after the Global Environment Facility donated 697 million to conserve the landscape and improve crop productivity in the region.
The five-year project programme, which focuses on climate action and enhancing local livelihoods, will be coordinated by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and cover two counties –Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. Mt Elgon is shared by the two counties and extends to the neighbouring Uganda
The project will entail promotion of sustainable food production practices and responsible value chains, as well as conservation and restoration of natural habitats.
The region’s volcanic soils and high rainfall make it a productive agricultural area.
The Mt Elgon National Park is also a unique tourism destination in the Western region owing to its unique attraction sites, with forest elephants being a major attraction component.
The forest is home to hundreds of bird species and animals like blue colobus monkeys and buffalos. It is a haven to thousands of plant species, many of which are endemic to the region.
But the ecosystem is facing serious threats from human activities such as deforestation, agricultural expansion, and illegal logging.
This has depleted native tree species in the region and degraded fragile swamps and slopes.
The Ministry of Environment, KFS, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and Bungoma and Trans Nzoia county governments, among other stakeholders, secured the funds from GEF to promote sustainable and integrated management of the landscape.
The project will also involve the development of a coffee value chain and sustainable food production systems.
According to environmental experts, Kenya’s forest cover, which was estimated at 15 per cent during independence, is currently approximated to be less than 10 per cent due to indiscriminate destruction.
The Mt Elgon landscape covers 170,983 hectares, with 48,722 hectares under forested area. Some 18,953 hectares are under the degraded area.
“Wetlands in the region are under significant degradation due to cultivation of vegetables, sugarcane and other crops. Livestock rearing, unsustainable removal of craft materials, and extraction of herbal medicine, especially during the dry season, also contribute to degradation of the ecosystem,” said Beatrice Mbula, the deputy chief forest conservator in charge of National Forest Conservation.
“Mt Elgon Water Tower was selected due to its overall importance for biodiversity conservation and critical services,” added Ms Mbula.
Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka said the restoration of the ecosystem will boost tourism attraction in the Western Kenya circuit owing to its unique attraction sites.
The park is home to cave Elephants that mine salt from the mountain’s caves.
“The five water towers of Cherangani, Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon, Mau Complex, and the Aberdares that are a lifeline to millions of Kenyans are experiencing water declining water volumes because of the prolonged drought and destruction of water catchments by human activities,” Richard Yabei, an environmentalist, said.
The degraded areas of Mt Elgon landscape include Kaberwa, Labot, Kapkatany, Kaboiwao and parts of Chepkitale.
Apart from the Sabaot who form the majority of people occupying Mt Elgon, other inhabitants of the mountainous area include the Ndorobo-Mosopisyeek, the Bok, Someek, Ogiek, and Koony, all members of the larger Kalenjin community.
The government established the Chepyuk settlement Scheme in 1971 to settle members of the Sabaot community who had been pushed out of their ancestral land by the British colonial government.
Environmentalists have petitioned the government to enforce measures to save the forest from further destruction by illegal settlers, saw millers and poachers.
“We are alarmed by high levels of degradation, especially on the Mt Elgon and Cherang’any water towers, which are facing massive encroachment,” said Joshua Kipyego from Kaptama area.
