It is true that the world is experiencing climate change and that we in Africa are bearing the brunt of its effects. It is true that the world must drastically reduce its carbon footprint by amongst other measures, planting billions of trees to meet global sustainability goals. It is also true that we must protect our forests from those who seek to exploit them without regard for posterity. That is why, from time to time, forests need to be closed to allow for maturity of ‘underage’ trees and for the recovery of our ecosystem. Yet it is just as true that we must be alive today to witness the future we are trying to protect. For that reason, sustainable harvesting, not total closure, should guide our approach towards the management of our forests.

Today, I have seen Kenyans on X (formerly Twitter) castigate the president for his decision to lift the logging ban in the Mau Complex. Some claim he is being inconsistent with his pledge to combat climate change; others believe it is a move designed for personal or political gain. Knowing the man, there’s good cause to believe this is the case, or perhaps it is not. But while we trade words and engage in a national guessing contest, we must not lose sight of the fact that there are genuine and urgent reasons to consider a controlled reopening of these forests. Millions of livelihoods depend on it.

What people need to understand, and often don’t, is that planted forests have a maturity period, usually between 10 and 25 years. This is not to say that trees cannot grow beyond this period, they can, and they do. I have personally seen a 40-year-old cypress tree; we felled it to build a client’s retirement home. The truth is that planted trees are not meant to be permanent fixtures; they are cultivated for use in construction, furniture making, and as a source of energy.

It is worth noting that Kenya remains a timber-deficit nation. We import a significant portion of our timber from our East African neighbors; primarily Uganda, the DRC, and occasionally Tanzania. When there is a complete logging ban, such as the one imposed in the Mau Forest Complex, the local market becomes entirely reliant on private plantations and imports. This dependency explains the astronomical timber prices in local yards and the resulting rise in construction costs across the country. If we are serious about reducing these costs and supporting local industry, we must consider regulated, sustainable logging within government forests.

Those of us educated under the 8-4-4 system will recall from our social studies lessons that while Thika was known as an industrial town and Nairobi as a commercial one, Elburgon and Maji Mazuri in Baringo were recognized as lumbering towns. Entire communities in these regions have long depended on forest resources for their livelihoods. Their economies were built around timber. Today, anyone driving through Elburgon on their way to Western Kenya can see how these once-vibrant towns have become a pale shadow of their former selves. To revitalize them, we must embrace sustainable and well-managed logging in forest complexes such as the Mau.

The debate around forestry management is an acutely important one. But it should never be about whether to cut trees, but rather how to cut them responsibly. Forests can be both protected and productive. Sustainability does not mean locking away our forests forever. It means using them wisely for today and for generations yet to come.