We will in July lift a moratorium on logging- PS Kimani
Forestry permanent secretary, Kimani Kimotho, has stated that the ban on logging in forests imposed six years ago will be lifted in three months time.
He highlighted that the government will allow licenced saw millers to continue harvesting mature trees from both public and private forests.
He stated,”As the government, we will in July lift a moratorium on logging in public forests across the country to allow for harvesting and disposal of mature trees.”
He however, stated that a policy would be put up on how the harvesting will be done, to avoid misuse and breaking the law.
He stated,”Before July the government will put in place the policy on how the harvesting of mature and overgrown tree plantations will be done in public and community forests.”
He highlighted that harvesting will be done in a regulated, open and accountable manner as a way of increasing forest cover.
He stated,”We will not do it carelessly as was done previously because we want to ensure we increase our forest cover to required levels while allowing the harvesting in a regulated manner.”
The government imposed a moratorium on logging in public and community forests six years ago in a bid to protect the existing forests as the country wants to achieve 10 per cent forest cover.
This comes as a relief to saw millers and timber merchants in the country who had decried that the ban had caused massive job losses to them
A section of the timber traders complained that the government had been holding their money paid as royalties before the ban was imposed.
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