The move, which will endanger the protection of forests, threatens to undo the developments made by conservationists.

A Forest Conservation and Management bill prohibiting the alteration of forest boundaries is set to be amended by the Kenyan government.

The Forest Conservation and Management Bill 2021 will allow politicians deciding power over who can change forest boundaries, despite the protection they give to wildlife species and habitats. As such, the move has been met with outrage by environmental activists due to their fears it will lead to more deforestation.

“The world is burning and forests are one tool to reduce the heat,” wrote Nature Kenya, the East Africa Natural History Society (EANHS) on their website.

“It is dangerous to weaken the laws that protect our forests. It is dangerous to entrust the remaining forests to parliamentarians alone.”

The move will darken the already-looming shadow over the upcoming Kenyan elections, following the extreme weather events occurring in the Northern region.

The removal of forest boundaries will further endanger an already vulnerable ecosystem. Indeed, the proposed amendments will weaken the power of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), an organisation developed by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to organise sustainable conservation.

The KFS currently manages 6.4 million acres of forest, but the new amendment will increase the risk of private land development.

The amendment bill appears to reverse the sentiment of the National Forest Policy published in 2014, which stated: “Forest resources in our country are valuable natural endowment that must be sustainably managed for present and future generations.”

Calls have been made to reject the bill, with many highlighting the potential damage made to the socio-economic wellbeing of those who live and work in the forests and the forest conservation sector.

Kenya is currently undergoing plans to achieve clean energy by 2030.