Lariak Forest: Bringing a broken landscape back to life

Ms Mary Wanjiku, 49, is at pains to explain the destruction she has witnessed at Lariak Forest in Laikipia County, one that has stolen the forest's glory and the community’s pride. Delicacies from the forest brought home by her father must have inculcated environmental values in her, and the memories of the good old days are still fresh in her mind. As a young girl, she can’t remember any member of her family falling seriously ill, thanks to herbs from the forest that kept them healthy. By the time she was four years old, trees were so dear to her that she wouldn’t allow anyone to cut them down, protesting that they were ‘feeling pain’.

The forest was rich in wild fruits, herbs and honey, and she recalls a few times when she begged her father to allow her to accompany him to the forest. Sometimes he would come back home carrying herbs, which he would boil and use to treat flu and other conditions. It was therefore painful when Ms Wanjiku witnessed massive destruction of the forest in the 1980s that left the land bare and turned neighbouring villages into battlefields between humans and wildlife, especially elephants.

She has an undisputed mastery of the forest accompanied by a desire to rehabilitate it, endearing her to villagers, the government and conservationists. She explains that the forest is surrounded by seven locations —  Mutitu, Karabaa, Supili, Gituamba, Muthengera, Erongaroni, and Manjani, all visible from the three hills within the forest. Other amazing features in the forest are elephants’ maternity sites, where jumbos come to deliver, waterfalls, and other tourist attraction sites.  “As if the cutting down of trees was not enough, in February 2009, honey gathers started a fierce fire that consumed the forest until June the same year. It was the worst destruction since nothing was spared by the fire,” recalls Ms Wanjiku, now a trained Kenya Forest Service scout.

Ms Wanjiku notes that before the forest was destroyed, the rains normally came by March 15. “We had adequate rains for farming activities, but this place is now a desert. Nothing comes from the farms, and we rely on food donations.”

But all is not lost.

Through a community initiative supported by Laikipia County government and other players, more than 2.5 hectares of the forest have been rehabilitated through tree planting since 2016. “We are working with the community, county government, the Kenya Forest Service and other players to restore the forest’s beauty, protect wildlife and attract more tourists. The tourism attraction sites can create tens of direct and indirect jobs for the youth,” says Ms Wanjiku.

During the International Day of Forests, on behalf of the community, she pleaded with Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya to have the forest fenced to protect trees and end human-wildlife conflict in the seven locations, a prayer that was granted. 

“The conflicts are caused by wildlife looking for water. We also need dams within the forest. Water catchment areas and streams in the forest dried up due to destruction. They are slowly coming back to life but we need to have the dams and the fence as a lasting solution. I also thank the government for posting enough Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service officers in the area,” says Ms Wanjiku.

Her sentiments are shared by Mr Njuguna Kihara, a Community Forest Association leader, who adds that apart from the elusive rains, they experience destructive hailstorms most of the time.“We are not harvesting any maize or beans in this area. Even worse, crops have been destroyed by hailstones. Walk around the village and you will notice that most houses have damaged roofs.”

Ms Memo Some, WildNow Foundation director, whose organisation is working with Lariak Forest Community Association in rehabilitating the forest, says conservation efforts by women, youth and school children are yielding positive results in the rehabilitation of the 7, 488-hectare forest.

She says the biggest challenge at the forest after fires is human-wildlife conflict and that her organisation is teaching residents the importance of wildlife and how to co-exist.

“We are not only helping communities coexist with wildlife but also training youth how to use technology devices to monitor animals’ migration patterns. We are also empowering them so they can benefit from eco-tourism job opportunities that have not been exploited. This approach is motivating the youth to join in the conservation efforts,” says Ms Some, a wildlife researcher. 

She says elephant move  long distances to give birth at the forest. “Inside the forest, we have a place we call the maternity ward. It is not the most conducive place for the elephants to give birth due to the massive destruction of the forest, but they still come because it is less noisy and it has some natural herbs that are good for the jumbos and their calves.”

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