Logs of contention: The Battle for Kenya's eucalyptus

A year after the lifting of the logging ban in Kenya, local timber manufacturers are concerned about the indiscriminate cutting down of Eucalyptus trees to process veneers by foreign nationals from India and China. The eucalyptus veneers are being processed for export as raw materials to India and China. Kenyan timber manufacturers claim that the country has lost close to a billion shillings in revenue in the last three months due to Chinese and Indian timber processors failing to remit local taxes. Despite a ban on eucalyptus exports to China, NTV has established that the exports of eucalyptus veneers are ongoing. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers is warning that the uncontrolled harvesting of eucalyptus trees could jeopardize Kenya’s 15 billion tree-growing campaign to increase the country’s tree cover by 30 percent in the next decade as a climate mitigation measure. NTV’s Health and Science reporter, Brygettes Ngana, provides insights into the intricacies behind the eucalyptus veneer business that is depleting the country's tree reserves and revenue, on #LogsOfContention.
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