‘Thirsty’ trees threatening to ‘drink’ Nyandarua dry to be uprooted

Nyandarua County and national government agencies have banned the planting of eucalyptus trees on riparian land and ordered the harvesting of the existing trees within water catchment areas.

At Maili Kumi dam in Ndaragua Central, the leaders announced a technical committee to ensure implementation of the directive with immediate effect so as to conserve the water catchment areas.

The trees, which consume a lot of water, have been blamed for dried dams, catchment areas, springs from the Aberdare Forest feeding water to dams, lake Olbolossat and rivers.

Mr Mwanzia Kyambia, the county’s Water, Environment and Climate Change chief officer, said the technical committee implementing the directive includes officials from the Interior Ministry, National Environment Management Authority, Kenya Forest Service, the county government as well as local community representatives.

“We shall distribute alternative trees to be planted by the farmers in their farms and public lands. But the eucalyptus trees must be uprooted as water sources have dried up. We have to protect the water catchment areas for generations to come.”

“The law against planting the trees in water catchment areas was enacted years back and all we are doing is implementing it,” said Mr Mwanzia.

Water and Environment Executive Wachira Mugo said the county government and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) will map and zone areas suitable for growing the trees. 

“We are not condemning the eucalyptus, what we are saying is that they have been planted at the wrong places and they must be uprooted. KFS and the county’s Environment and Agriculture departments will zone the tree planting areas and guide on best farming practices to avoid soil erosion from the farms to the lakes. We are shifting our focus from just planting the trees to ensuring we plant and they grow, and the right trees are planted at the right places,” he said. 

County Commissioner Amos Mariba said the eucalyptus trees will be harvested from individual farms and public lands within the water catchment areas. 

“It is time to restore wetlands. We have visited several water sources and springs and they have all dried up. This is causing the community conflicts that we see at Lake Olbolossat,  where herders from Isiolo, Laikipia and Samburu have invaded the lake land.”

"Nyandarua is the source of water for those areas, all the way to Garissa and Nairobi. That is how important the Nyandarua water catchment areas are in the country. Our main challenge is the eucalyptus trees, which we have all agreed must be harvested and controlled planting be guided by the experts,” said the county commissioner. 

KFS County Deputy-in-charge George Kamau said tree planting should be zoned whereby area-specific trees are planted for wetlands rehabilitation.

“During the zoning, we shall also have the catchment areas and wetlands gazetted and those encroaching on them forced to vacate the lands. We ask farmers engaging in tree seedlings nurseries to register with KFS so that we can buy the indigenous and environment-friendly trees from them for distribution to other farmers and planting in community and public lands,” said Mr Kamau. 

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