The Mau Forest is under Siege!

Join us in calling on the government of Kenya through National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to revoke the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Licence No. NEMA/EIA/PSL/5292 granted to pave way for the construction of Bosto Dam by the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation along Kipsonoi River inside the South West Mau Forest in Bomet County, Kenya.

The Mau Forest Complex sits within Kenya’s Rift Valley and is the largest protected indigenous montane forest in East Africa (400,000ha) and a biodiversity hotspot. It serves as a critical water catchment area for the country and is the source from which numerous rivers flow, many of them draining into Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and the Lake Victoria basin. These rivers serves as the lifeline for much of downstream wildlife, people and their livelihoods.

The East Africa Wild Life Society (EAWLS) together with Kenya Forests Working Group (KFWG) are deeply concerned with the move by NEMA to grant this license signifying a direct ticket for the degradation and deforestation of the Mau Forest which is Kenya’s largest Water Catchment area. The EIA report that NEMA relied on states that the three dam location alternatives are 18km, 12km and 3km from the edge of the forest respectively while the true is that all the 3 proposed alternative dam sites are located inside the forest. Furthermore, the key stakeholders such as Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Water Towers Agency, National Land Commission and Nyangores Community Forest Association among others were not consulted as required by the Constitution, EMCA and the EIA/EA Regulations. Therefore, due process of the law was not adhered to and thus this report is inaccurate, erroneous, and subjective, lacks merit and cannot be relied upon by NEMA to make an objective decision on whether or not to issue an EIA licence.

Furthermore, should the dam construction go ahead, a huge chunk of the Mau forest estimated at not less than 20,000 hectares will be destroyed to pave way for the dam and its associated infrastructure. We have to safeguard the limited forest cover that currently is below the threshold that the Kenyan constitution provides for of least 10%.

We must stand up for this cause. WE MUST STOP THIS NOW.

Sign this petition and share with your friends to compel the government of Kenya and NEMA to revoke the EIA licence and stop this adverse act of destroying our forests!