Mau forest destruction, by Timsales
Taken by Steffen Keulig FdN e.v (fPcN Germany)
www.naturvoelker.org ©2010

Members of FdN/fPcN visited the Ogiek in the Mau Forest in December 2009 and January 2010 and again lent them a helping hand. It is all or nothing for the Ogiek these days and they urgently need help to sustain & retain their habitat, culture and even themselves. The reason for the concern showing on the faces of the Ogiek is the offensive large scale operation of the Kenyan government to save! the remaining Mau forest. Odd because this is what the Ogiek want too. For decades, the desire of the Ogiek has been to protect the forest in the valleys, which is their habitat & homeland, from illegal logging, degradation and from the migration of unauthorized Kenyan peoples, looking to settle in the area. Additionally, they now fear that that the new nature conservation initiative will disposes the Ogiek because the forested highlands of the Mau area, with their important water sources are to be turned into a "protected area", with people being excluded.