Locals hired to patrol forests and replant trees Forest covers 7% of Kenya, which is aiming for 10% by 2022
By Kagondu Njagi
KWALE, Kenya, April 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - S tanding under a thick green canopy in coastal Kenya s Shim Hills, Mohamed Mwaramuno squints at his fellow forest ranger s smartphone.
With about a dozen rangers, he has been using an app that through satellite feeds maps signs of forest fires, illegal logging and people encroaching on water sources, to stem worsening deforestation in Kwale County during the COVID-19 pandemic. The app has made work easier for us, said Mwaramuno. Instead of patrolling the dangerous terrain we just receive these feeds and then we can directly go to the sites that have been disturbed.
7 Min Read
KWALE, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Standing under a thick green canopy in coastal Kenya’s Shim Hills, Mohamed Mwaramuno squints at his fellow forest ranger’s smartphone.
With about a dozen rangers, he has been using an app that through satellite feeds maps signs of forest fires, illegal logging and people encroaching on water sources, to stem worsening deforestation in Kwale County during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The app has made work easier for us,” said Mwaramuno. “Instead of patrolling the dangerous terrain we just receive these feeds and then we can directly go to the sites that have been disturbed.”
Armed with phones and seeds, jobless Kenyans tackle illegal logging reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.