Mara ecosystem threatened by charcoal production in Nyakweri Forest and its environs: call for landscape charcoal governance

Nyakweri Forest is the largest remaining forest of Trans Mara District and forms part of the dispersal area of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. After land sub-division, local landowners who are mainly from the Maasai community invite outsiders to provide labor in cutting down trees to clear land for agriculture. In turn, these laborers receive their payment from the sale of charcoal that they make while the owner gets 25% of the money. In the dry areas, farmers cut trees mainly the Acacia species for charcoal production. The charcoal producers use traditional earth kilns that are very inefficient. Illegal charcoal production is taking place in the protected forest where immigrants use power saws to cut trees. Clearing trees offers more pasture and fertile land for crop production. It is urgent to build the capacity of Narok County Government and stakeholders to address forest conversion to farmland in fragile ecosystems and develop livelihoods for the local people in protected forests. Farmers can be advised to keep some trees on farm and plant more for sustainable charcoal production. Use of efficient methods in converting wood to charcoal is critical. Sustainable ecosystem management requires a landscape approach on resource governance guided by scientific knowledge.

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