View source for Mau Forest

{{Short description|Forest in Kenya}}
[[File:Mauskogen.png|thumb|260px|The Mau forest and some of the rivers originating there.]]
'''Mau Forest''' is a forest complex in the [[East African Rift|Rift Valley]] of [[Kenya]]. It is the largest indigenous [[montane forest]] in [[East Africa]]. The Mau Forest complex has an area of {{convert|273300|ha}}.<ref name="IBA">[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=6441&m=0 BirdLife IBA Factsheet]</ref>

The forest area has some of the highest rainfall rates in Kenya.<ref name="IBA"/> Mau Forest is the largest [[drainage basin]] in Kenya.<ref name="selfish">Daily Nation, July 22, 2008: [http://www.africanconservation.org/content/view/946/405/ Selfish interests threaten Mau forest] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123061311/http://www.africanconservation.org/content/view/946/405/ |date=2008-11-23 }}</ref> Numerous rivers originate from the forest, including the [[Southern Ewaso Ng'iro]], [[Sondu River]], [[Mara River]] and [[Njoro River]]. These rivers feed [[Lake Victoria]], [[Lake Nakuru]] and [[Lake Natron]].<ref name="IBA"/> The western slopes of the [[Mau Escarpment]] are covered by the Mau Forest.<ref name="IBA"/>

== Ecology ==
Typical tree species in the Mau Forest include ''[[Aningeria adolfi-friederici]]'', ''[[Strombosia scheffleri]]'', and ''[[Polyscias kikuyuensis]]''. ''[[Olea capensis]]'', ''[[Prunus africana]]'', ''[[Albizia gummifera]]'', and ''[[Podocarpus milanjianus]]'' are also found there.<ref name="IBA"/>

Endemic bird species in the area include [[Hartlaub's turaco]] (''Tauraco hartlaubi''), [[Hunter's cisticola]] (''Cisticola hunteri'') and [[Jackson's spurfowl]] (''Pternistis jacksoni'').<ref name="IBA"/>

== Destruction ==
The forest has been traditionally inhabited by [[Ogiek]] people, whose [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle is sustainable.<ref name="IBA"/> However, due to immigration from other ethnic groups, large parts of the forest area have been cleared for settlement.<ref name="IBA"/> Human activities, especially [[logging]], have led to [[deforestation]] of more than a quarter of the area since 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/IA_4-06_Mau.pdf|title=MauForest: Killing the goose but still wanting the golden eggs|author=Kanyinke Sena|publisher=IWGIA}}</ref><ref>http://www.ku.ac.ke/schools/engineering/images/stories/docs/publications/land_degredation_mau.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014030917/http://www.ku.ac.ke/schools/engineering/images/stories/docs/publications/land_degredation_mau.pdf |date=2021-10-14 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> This is due to the increased charcoal trade in places like Narok town and the supply of logs to saw mills in [[Baringo County|Baringo]], [[Nakuru County|Nakuru]] and [[Narok County|Narok]] counties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Charcoal-logging-wiping-out-Mau-forest/1056-4329818-cprtig/index.html|title=Charcoal trade, logging wiping out Mau Forest|website=Daily Nation|language=en|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref>

In 2008, the inauguration of the Sondu-Miriu hydro power plant was postponed due to low water levels, that are said to be resulting from the destruction of the Mau Forest.<ref name="selfish"/>

{{see|Deforestation in Kenya}}

== Mau Forest evictions ==
In the summer of 2008 there was a political row over resettlement of people, who had been allocated land there during the [[Kenya African National Union|KANU]] era during the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the settlers are famed politicians, like [[Franklin Bett]] and [[Zakayo Cheruiyot]]. In 2004 Paul Ndung’u released "Ndungu Report", which listed these land allocations, terming them illegal and recommended revocation of them.<ref name="selfish"/> Some evictions were implemented between 2004 and 2006, without a resettlement scheme.<ref>Amnesty International: [https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR32/006/2007 Kenya Nowhere to go: Forced Evictions in Mau Forest Briefing Paper, May 2007]</ref>

On July 15, 2008, the then Prime Minister, [[Raila Odinga]] issued an order that the evictions be implemented by October 2008 in order to protect the forest from destruction.<ref>Capital News, July 15, 2008:[http://www.capitalnews.co.ke/Local/Raila-meeting-endorses-Mau-evictions.html Raila meeting endorses Mau evictions ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722131829/http://www.capitalnews.co.ke/Local/Raila-meeting-endorses-Mau-evictions.html |date=2011-07-22 }}</ref> The order has been opposed by number of Rift Valley area politicians, led by [[Isaac Ruto]]. Some politicians, led by Minister of Agriculture [[William Ruto]], propose that if evictions are implemented, the government should allocate them land elsewhere.<ref name="selfish"/>

The evictions began in November 2009. Some prominent people are set to lose their land, including family members of former president [[Daniel arap Moi]].<ref>Daily Nation, November 28, 2009: [http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/814144/-/item/1/-/n6gimaz/-/index.html Big names and soldiers next in Mau crackdown] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915190602/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/814144/-/item/1/-/n6gimaz/-/index.html |date=2012-09-15 }}</ref> Also under threat is the [[Kiptagich Tea Factory]] owned by former president Moi.<ref>Daily Nation, December 22, 2009: [http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/829452/-/view/printVersion/-/10qvtnt/-/index.html MP vows to fight Moi eviction bid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192654/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/829452/-/view/printVersion/-/10qvtnt/-/index.html |date=2016-03-03 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Fuchs, Lisa Elena. ''A Political Ecology of Kenya's Mau Forest: The Land, the Trees, and the People'' (James Currey, 2023) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=59223 online]

== External links ==
* {{Cite web|author=Mau Forest Restoration Interim Coordinating Secretariat|year=2010|title=Restoration of the Mau Forest Ecosystem|url=http://www.maurestoration.go.ke/index.php/mau-at-a-glance|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520014433/http://www.maurestoration.go.ke/index.php/mau-at-a-glance|archivedate=20 May 2010|url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web|year=2007|url=http://www.macofa.co.ke|title=Mau Forest Community Association (MACOFA)|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205012426/http://www.macofa.co.ke/|archivedate=5 December 2007|url-status=dead}}

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[[Category:East African montane forests]]
[[Category:Forests of Kenya]]
[[Category:Environmental racism]]