More than 60,000 sign petition giving Kenya's government 30 days to answer on forest losses

Campaigners led by Greenpeace Africa and the Green Belt Movement marched from Uhuru Park to the Ministry of Environment in Nairobi on Tuesday 6 October 2026 and handed in a petition backed by more than 60,000 signatures. They have given the ministry 30 days to respond in writing, Kenyans.co.ke and Eastleigh Voice reported the same day.

Eastleigh Voice said the march was led by Greenpeace Africa, the Green Belt Movement, Just Act, Friends of Nairobi National Park, civil society groups and environmentalists. Kenyans.co.ke reported that outside the ministry they presented an open letter to Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa, listing four demands.

According to Kenyans.co.ke, which saw the documents, the groups want contentious projects halted in Imenti, Karura, Ngong Road and Suam forests and in Nairobi National Park. They also want previous court orders on those projects respected, the logging ban in the Mau Forest Complex reinstated, every excision, easement and licence made public, a bigger say for community forest associations, and prosecution of those behind illegal logging and land grabbing.

Eastleigh Voice reported that the petitioners also raised concerns over the lifting of the logging ban announced in October 2025. Greenpeace Africa and the Green Belt Movement issued a joint statement on 30 October 2025 saying the decision "undermines years of progress in forest protection and exposes Kenya's fragile ecosystems to renewed destruction". According to Eastleigh Voice, the petitioners said the Mau lost about a quarter of its cover between 1973 and 2013 through excisions, settlement, illegal logging and charcoal burning.

On Imenti Forest in Meru County, Eastleigh Voice reported that the petitioners raised concerns over a planned excision of 2.75 hectares following concurrence issued by the Principal Secretary for Forestry on 6 May 2026. They said the area has been linked to plans for an airstrip, golf course and State Lodge, and that aerial footage showed work continuing at the airstrip site despite a court order stopping construction.

Greenpeace Africa said on 4 June 2026 that the stated justification for the excision was road infrastructure under the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project, financed by the World Bank's International Development Association. The Standard reported on 24 June 2026 that Justice Oguttu Mboya of the Meru Environment and Land Court had granted interim conservatory orders, on an application by Mugambi Imanyara, Charles Mutuma Mbogori and three others, temporarily stopping plans to excise and develop parts of Imenti Forest for a State Lodge, airstrip, golf course and related facilities. People Daily reported on 2 July 2026 that Forestry Principal Secretary Gitonga Mugambi, speaking about the proposed airstrip, said: "We believe with time that this project will be allowed by the law, and that is why we are engaging the public to understand the importance of this development."

At Nairobi National Park, the petitioners cited tree felling and clearing linked to the relocation of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage and a 1,300-vehicle parking facility, Eastleigh Voice reported. They said 4,642 Kenyans had gone to court to protect the park and alleged that petitioners were kept out of a court-ordered site inspection in July.

On Ngong Road Forest, they said it was gazetted at about 2,850 hectares in 1932 and has been reduced to about 1,224 hectares through repeated excisions. On Karura Forest, they said trees were cleared around Rangers Village in February to make room for National Youth Service personnel, without consultation with Friends of Karura, the forest's legal co-manager. They said the government later agreed to halt the project, and they want the cleared area restored to indigenous forest.

The groups also raised concerns over a 52-kilometre road through the Aberdare National Park and Forest, saying the ecosystem supplies water to the Sasumua and Ndakaini dams. In Suam Forest in Trans Nzoia County, they opposed plans to use 50 acres for a border town and housing project linked to a one-stop border post with Uganda.

Kenyans.co.ke reported that the groups argued President William Ruto's promise to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 is contradicted by his lifting of the logging ban and the clearing of protected forests. Eastleigh Voice quoted the petitioners as saying: "Growing tree cover while shrinking our forest cover is a contradiction." The groups put national forest cover at 8.83 per cent, below a constitutional and international target of 10 per cent, Kenyans.co.ke reported.

The groups want a forest protection plan unveiled at Mazingira Day celebrations in Trans Nzoia on Saturday 10 October, Kenyans.co.ke reported. Eastleigh Voice quoted the petition as saying: "on Mazingira Day, Kenyans will be listening for your answer."