On the 31st of March 2008 The Colobus Trust management, along with the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the South Coast Residents Association visited one of the hotels in Diani in response to a report that they were clearing their forest. We brought with us representatives from the relevant government authorities (Kenya Wildlife Services, The Kenya Forestry Commission & the National Environmental Management Authority).
This hotel, which for the moment we cannot name, is one of the oldest in Diani. It has had a long history of cooperation with the Trust and care for the environment. But, under its current management it has gone the way of many hotels here and catered for package tourists.
Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we walked around the area they were expanding into. Through the use of bulldozers and a massive earth mover (which broke one of our Colobridges whilst being delivered) they had levelled an area of forest which is yet to be measured but is of a very large acreage. We estimate this to be at least one troop’s home range. Endangered indigenous trees, some of which had stood for hundreds of years, lay shattered in a pile whilst they dug into the bedrock to make room for a third swimming pool. They also were building within the 30 meter buffer zone above the high-tide mark, which is completely illegal and what is worse is that they appeared to be building a pipeline. We are currently in the process of dealing with NEMA to find out the details before we can name names or say anything was conclusively illegal.
We had a meeting with the manager on duty (the general manager left hastily before we arrived) and he tried, in vain, to justify their actions. He said that their development were legal and claimed that the gain to the construction workers outweighed the loss of the forest. He also said and I quote, that “fifty percent of their forest remained” this lead us to believe that they halved what once was.
Please help us spread this terrible story before all of Diani Forest is calved up. We need to make people aware of this Any ideas or contacts within the media or responsible tourism industry who may help us would be fantastic. If we don’t make an example of this there will be no hope for the future of Diani Forest and its wildlife and the only jungle we will have will be a concrete one.
Thanks for your time,
Gwili Gibbon
Assistant Manager
Donations made here are
Mar 2nd Susan B USD 11.00
11 Comments
Gwili, this is awful. For starters, they owe you for the destruction of the colobus bridge. And the forest, my heavens, irreplaceable. I wonder if Dipesh might be able to contact the media about this. If he can tell us who to contact, we could all write in. I made a small donation yesterday and will do the same today. Nothing makes me sadder then loss of habitat, I’m so sorry.
Yes, this is terrible indeed. I have already sent out to various media houses. I want to sound them out to see if they will take it on directly. However, Gwili you must be aware that if the media take this story on they will want to know who is behind it. It will not remain a secret for much longer.
Thanks Dipesh…let us know how we can help, too.
My god. That is a stunning loss of habitat. Thanks, Dipesh, for getting the word out. For anyone else who wants to contact local media, there’s a short list of news organizations on my blog under the “Wildlife Direct” tab.
s.
Just to let you know that some of the local media have confirmed they are going to cover it.
Thanks Sheryl, for that tip. I’ll get started. What a shame. Gwili, please keep us updated on this, we care.
I will post this on some websites to raise awareness.
Thanks Dipesh, & everyone else… We know we are going to cause a storm with this coming into the media. But we have already caused one within the management team who’ve all flown back in as work has had to stop. We are clearly not naming any names as yet though so we have cleared ourselves legally at least.
We would like to ask that, although it may be hard, we wait until tomorrow evening, during which time the situation is being clarified, before all hell breaks loose.
Thanks again & watch this space
Gwili
Ok Gwili, I won’t write to anyone until the all clear from you. But they most certainly have to pay for the colobus bridge, they can’t get around that.
Don’t worry. We are on the case! Keep up the great work!
Gwili, if you need ‘backup’ you can talk to our (EAWLS) Executive Director, Ali Kaka, and have him take on KWS, Kenya Forest Service and others in government on these issues. The EAWLS Marine and Coastal Area Programme Coordinator, Dishon Murage, will be relocating permanently to Mombasa soon and you can always work with him on this and other issues.