The habitats the Trust is working so hard to conserve is more than a bid to save an area of outstanding beauty with an incredibly impressive number of species, some of which are listed as highly endangered. It is important to understand that there are few remaining catchment areas or water towers that provide Kenya with the water necessary to feed our people and economy. Kenya’s forests are the key to ensuring that the political stablity we hope has been restored will be beneficial to the future of Kenya’s people. Without environmental security that the forests of Mt Kenya provide, the stablity offered by any Government cannot provide it with the sustenance it needs long term. It is this point that I find so hard to get across to even the most educated of people. Many think there are bigger priorities in Kenya than wildlife or trees but the truth is, without them this country has a future akin to Ethoipia’s present. It doesn’t take much to understand that providing water catchment areas with protection provide us with the basics for food and hydroelectric power and therefore all we need to keep our nation heathy and adaptable.

The wheatlands in the picture above are an example of commercial agriculture reliant on the climate provided by Mt. Kenya. Another good example is the flower farms on the foothills of the Mountain on the Western slopes. These businesses are a big part of Kenya’s export economy and provide a great deal of employment and income but the story is much bigger than that. Two of Kenya’s most important rivers, the Ewaso Ngiro and the Tana Rivers supply millions of people with water for subsitance agriculture, and allow pasoralism in marginal areas. Not to mention the businesses in Nairobi and other towns reliant on the hydropower supplied by the Tana River and water supplies for drinking and washing along the Rivers and tributaries. To the North and East of the country these rivers flow for miles and miles and sustain people with crops and livestock from the North East of the country to the central highlands and the arid lands of Northern Kenya.

Encroachment into the forests and the problems that accompany such destruction is simply a destruction of the backbone of the most precious of Kenya’s resources. Helping the Trust to help Mt Kenya’s habitats and the Government agencies that work with us will help Kenya on many levels.

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