Two decades after the death of Africa’s first female Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, the forests she dedicated her life protecting and the over 51 million trees she planted across Kenya are once again under threat. The threat, however, looks different today. There is no dictatorial single-party government with armed police confronting women planting trees; no iron lady is standing at the gates of a public forest. However, just like the 1989 attempt to develop a large tower block at Kenya’s capital’s Uhuru Park, the threat comes wrapped in the language of development, infrastructure, and national prestige.
As Kenya prepares to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and pursues a series of ambitious infrastructure projects, environmentalists warn that decades of conservation gains are actively being dismantled. Across the country, forests and protected ecosystems are being cleared or opened up for government projects, triggering legal battles, public outrage, and fears that economic ambitions are being placed above ecological survival.
Kenya has for the longest time been internationally celebrated as a leader in environmental conservation, a country whose most famous environmentalist won the Nobel Peace Prize for demonstrating that protecting forests is inseparable from protecting democracy, peace and human dignity. Yet today, some of the country’s most treasured ecosystems are facing unprecedented pressure from the very government entrusted with safeguarding them
Imenti Forest: A Water Tower Under Threat
On the northern slopes of Mount Kenya lies Imenti Forest, a 32,000 acre gazette public forest in Meru County. It is far more than a collection of trees. The forest serves as a critical water tower, supports rich biodiversity, and provides a dry season maternity sanctuary for elephants migrating from surrounding ecosystems.
In recent months, Imenti Forest has become the centre of a national controversy after sections of the forest were earmarked for infrastructure development of an airstrip and a proposed state lounge. Conservationists argue that once protected forests are opened for roads or public facilities, the damage extends far beyond the cleared area. Roads fragment habitats, encourage human encroachment and permanently alter delicate ecosystems.
For many environmental experts, the issue is not simply the loss of trees but the precedent it sets: if gazetted forests can be sacrificed for convenience today, what remains protected tomorrow?
Karura Forest: Development Behind the Green Curtain
Few forests symbolise Kenya’s environmental struggle more than Karura Forest in Nairobi. It was here that Wangari Maathai endured arrests and violent attacks from approximately 200 armed guards and hired thugs while resisting politically connected land grabbers in the 1990s.
Today, Karura is once again the centre of public debate. Government agencies, led by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Friends of Karura Forest (FKF) are actively enforcing the selective removal of exotic trees as part of ecological restoration efforts. However, separate plans to clear approximately 3 acres for a National Youth Service camp and a large government nursery have alarmed environmental groups, who argue that conservation cannot be achieved by clearing sections of one of Nairobi’s last remaining urban forests.
The Green Belt Movement have criticized this move stating that Karura Forest is a public asset that must be protected through transparency, legality and public participation. This is because key conservation stakeholders were blindsided by the construction plans, as the joint management committees and local stakeholders were completely sidelined.The grassroots environmental organization also warned that clearing the land risked degrading a critical urban green space.
The Kenyan government on its part through the KFS has moved to pacify the citizenry saying that Karura is not under threat. They state that recent clearing of a 3-acre section is strictly for renovating an existing tree nursery and housing National Youth Service (NYS) staff, all aimed at expanding the national tree seedling capacity. However, even well-intentioned government projects risk weakening the long-standing principle that protected forest should remain protected unless exceptional circumstances exist.
Nairobi National Park: Conservation Meets Concrete
Perhaps nowhere is the conflict between development and conservation more visible than in Nairobi National Park, the world’s only national park bordering a capital city. Environmental organisations and the Kenya Wildlife Service are currently locked in court over a plan involving the clearing of approximately 100 acres of protected upland forest. The disputed project includes relocating the Nairobi Animal Orphanage and constructing a parking facility capable of accommodating roughly 1,300 vehicles, together with access roads serving the proposed Bomas International Convention Centre.
For more than 6 decades the Nairobi Animal Orphanage has been a place of refuge and learning. The orphanage has nurtured generations of rescued wildlife and introduced countless Kenyan children to the country’s rich natural heritage For many young Kenyans their visit to the orphanage provides the first close encounter with wildlife and a deeper inspiration for conservation.
Environmentalists argue that such developments fundamentally alter the ecological character of the park. Beyond the immediate loss of forest cover, they warn that roads, parking lots, and increased human activity threaten wildlife movement, habitat integrity, and the long-term viability of one of Kenya’s most iconic conservation areas.
The legal battle has become a defining test of whether protected areas remain genuinely protected when confronted with large-scale government projects.
A Fragmented Resistance
Across the country, pockets of resistance are growing. Residents, climate activists, conservation organisations, and concerned citizens have organised protests, filed court petitions, and launched public awareness campaigns. Yet these efforts remain largely isolated. Communities in Meru fight Imenti Forest. Nairobi residents mobilise around Karura. Environmental lawyers challenge development in Nairobi National Park. Each battle is fought separately.
Meanwhile, the government possesses vastly greater financial resources, institutional power and political momentum, particularly as preparations for a continental sporting event accelerate. Against such machinery, fragmented activism struggles to produce coordinated national pressure.
The imbalance raises an uncomfortable question: who speaks for Kenya’s forests when those charged with protecting them become their developers?
This imbalance raises an uncomfortable question: who speaks for Kenya’s forests when those charged with protecting them become their developers?
The Legacy at Stake
Wangari Maathai understood that conversation was never merely about trees when she fought for Karura forest. Forests are water towers, carbon sinks, wildlife habitats, and buffers against climate change. They are public trust resources held for future generations rather than assets to be traded for short-term development.
Kenya undoubtedly requires better infrastructure. It requires stadiums, roads, convention centres and economic growth. But development and conservation need not exist as opposing forces. The country’s environmental laws were built on the understanding that certain ecosystems are too valuable to replace once destroyed.
The danger today is not simply the loss of individual forests; it is the gradual erosion of the principle that protected areas are inviolable. Once an exception becomes routine, legal protection risks becoming little more than a bureaucratic label.
Two decades after Wangari Maathai’s passing, Kenya finds itself at a familiar crossroad. The forest she defended remains standing, but increasingly, they stand alone. The question is no longer whether Wangari would have fought these battles. The question is whether anyone will fight them with the same resolve before the chainsaws fall silent and the damage becomes irreversible.
This article is republished from The Secularist under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill is a Kenyan writer and researcher with a strong interest in governance, human rights, law, and public policy. His work explores social, political, and cultural issues through research-driven analysis and commentary. He is passionate about promoting public engagement on issues affecting society, particularly youth, justice, and civic freedoms.
