Deforestation deprives Kenya's economy millions of dollars
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Women at a community-managed tree nursery that supplies seedlings for reforestation in the Mount Kenya region.
Deforestation is depriving Kenya millions of dollars a year, according to a new report out on Monday.
The report has been jointly compiled by the Kenyan Forest Service (KFS) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Donn Bobb reports.
The report says that deforestation deprived Kenya's economy of 5.8 billion shillings, an equivalent of $68 million in 2010, and 6.6 billion shillings in 2009.
According to UNEP, the main reasons for deforestation are multiple and complex.
It says they include unregulated charcoal production, logging of indigenous trees, cultivated fields in the indigenous forest, livestock grazing, quarry landslides and human settlement.
UNEP says forests play a critical role in water supplies because they store water during the rainy season and release it slowly ensuring water flow during dry periods.
The Kenya Forest Service, the Kenya national Bureau of Statistics and international partners say the contribution of forests to the East African country's GDP is undervalued by 2.5 per cent.
Donn Bobb, United Nations
Duration: 53″
