The government’s ambitious target to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 to fight the devastating consequences of climate change calls for serious efforts. The key objective is to increase the country’s forest coverage from 12 per cent to 30 per cent.

It will remain a pipedream unless conservation is taken a notch higher. By allowing the destruction of what is already available, it becomes harder to achieve this new dream. All should be alarmed about the increasing cutting down of indigenous trees, which take a long time to grow.

Getting rid of indigenous forests threatens biodiversity and undermines efforts to increase the vital green cover. In many places, forests and vegetation are being destroyed by greedy people or harvested by the poor who do not have an alternative source of cooking energy.

In Kwale County, for example, once a lush forest covering 50 kilometres now has only little shrubs and grass. Until the 1990s, this area boasted a thriving ecosystem dominated by indigenous trees. Not anymore!

The main problem is illegal logging. The ready market for timber is a recipe for disaster in this and other areas with the illicit timber trade depleting thousands of hectares of forests.

Before the recent heavy rains, drought had taken a toll on many areas, leaving little parched and dusty grounds. Largely to blame is the rampant charcoal burning. The illicit business is going on despite legal restrictions.

Various reports show that arrests are sometimes made but the law against the felling of trees in gazetted forests is weak with convicts paying small fines or serving short sentences. One can get fined as little as Sh2,000 or serve a two-week sentence for felling a 50-year-old tree.

Corruption is also considered an obstacle to conservation efforts. The spotlight must inevitably be turned to security agencies, particularly forest officers, and political leaders in the most affected areas. The tragic decline of indigenous forests must be stopped.