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UN alarmed by Kenyan deforestation
28/02/2001 10:01 - (SA)
Nairobi - The United Nations Environment Programme on Tuesday urged Kenya to call off plans to cut forests to settle landless rural people.
UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer issued a statement responding to reports published in the local press about possibly destroying 68 000 hectares (168 000 acres) of virgin forest, mainly in the Mount Kenya region.
"In recent years the rate of global deforestation has been running at three to four percent of the earth's forest cover. This is an alarming rate and it must be stopped," Toepfer said in the statement.
"The short-term economic gains of clearing woodlands for timber or agriculture must be matched against the even bigger, long-term losses as a result of uncontrolled and unsustainable deforestation." - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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