As EU deadline lapses the future for forest dwellers and their lands hangs in the balance in Kenya

Today’s Star newspaper in Kenya reports that

The dateline of the Sh3.6 billion EU-funded conservation project within Embobut Forest has elapsed. In June, the EU gave the government up to September 24 to get its house in order or risk losing the amount. The EU had suspended the Water Towers Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme in the face of mounting evidence that its funds were being used to carry out violent human rights violations.

The article highlights that

On June 25, Environment PS Chris Kiptoo formed a multi-agency team to spearhead talks. “The government is keen on coming up with a lasting solution,” Kiptoo said then. EU Ambassador Simon Mordue said the programme was suspended over non-compliance with human rights obligations by the government. “Dialogue should solve the matter as we need to find a solution that reconciles human rights with conservation,” Mordue said. The envoy said the EU insists on full respect for the rights of indigenous people and added that the conservation work on the water tower was never expected to involve any evictions or use of violence.

The article ends by stating that: 

“A lobby has urged the government to grasp a win-win solution for forests and securing the funding. Community Land Action Now (CLAN) said it is possible to protect both the environment and human rights. CLAN is a network of communities – including forest dwellers, hunter-gatherers and pastoralists – who speak on communities’ land rights.

“[CLAN] said such a solution is good news for all Kenyans – not just for forest dwellers – because it lays the ground for a secure, strong and enduring partnership between the government and forest dwellers. They want titles for the Ogiek of Mau and the Kapkok glade to be recognised as community lands for the Sengwer.”

The Sengwer had earlier written to the EU Ambassador laying out their win-win solution, further coverage is available: 

• The Sengwer letter to the EU is here.
• Kenya’s Standard newspaper reports: Secure Kenya’s water towers, forest dwellers say.
• Read the CLAN Appeal to the Government. 
• Call by the Sengwer for an end to human rights violations by Kenyan authorities following burning of 28 homes in July 2020

Background

Despite the Kenyan government declaring a moratorium on all evictions for the period of COVID-19 in May 2020, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) guards began conducting a series of violent evictions of the Sengwer community only two months later. On 10 July, 28 homes in Kapkok Glade were burned leaving dozens of members of the Sengwer community in the cold, with no shelter, and particularly vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus.  And, at the start of September, thirty one more homes were burned. 

The KFS has long been conducting violence against the Sengwer community to force them to abandon their ancestral lands. The violent evictions continued during the EU-funded ‘Water Towers Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation’ Programme (WaTER) which began implementation around 2016. This was despite well-publicised 2014 criticism of the World Bank’s predecessor ‘Natural Resources Management Project (NRMP) by the Bank’s own Inspection Panel, arising in relation to the forced evictions orchestrated by the Project’s key implementing agency, KFS.

 “What is happening now is so dangerous, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Elias Kimaiyo, a Sengwer community leader in Embobut, at the time.

Forced evictions are prohibited by the Kenyan Constitution and, yet, despite the moratorium and calls by UN Special Rapporteurs, the KFS continue with their evictions without any consequence or accountability. The UN has repeatedly condemned the KFS’ treatment of the Sengwer.

Such evictions additionally leave the forest more vulnerable to degradation and exploitation by outsiders, including by the KFS which has a history of exploiting and destroying indigenous forest. The Kenyan Government’s own Logging Taskforce judged KFS to have been exploiting and destroying the very forests it is supposed to protect. Evictions and harassment of the Sengwer are part of the KFS approach of removing indigenous communities who wish to protect their ancestral forest lands.

The Sengwer are fully supportive of the resumption of the EU WaTER project, which was suspended due to the increase in the number of forced evictions, attacks and shootings of the Sengwer since the project’s inception in 2016. But they are calling for the KFS and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to first end their human rights violations against them and respect Sengwer’s human rights.  These rights include their community land rights, the recognition of which would enable to remain on their ancestral lands, living in the three natural glades, able to protect and restore their forests and their way of life that helps protect the forests. The Sengwer have documented their traditional rules and regulations and they have been proposing to use them as the basis for conserving their forests, with support from KFS.

As the CLAN appeal states, the EU and the Government are now presented with an opportunity to

grasp the win-win solution in front of them, one that can “protect the forest as well as allow a safe home for forest dwellers”; “This is good news for all Kenyans – not just for forest dwellers – because it lays the ground for a secure, strong and enduring partnership between the Government and forest dwellers to protect Kenya’s forests, wildlife and water towers for the benefit of all Kenyans, for always”.

 

For more information, contact:

• [email protected] 
• +44(0)1608 652893