Kenya’s President William Ruto has lifted a ban on logging imposed six years ago.
The president said the move was “overdue” citing the need to create jobs and open up sectors in the economy that depend on forest products.
Concerns over the impact of logging on the environment and climate change prompted the ban in 2018.
But speaking on Sunday in Molo in the Rift Valley region, Mr Ruto defended the lifting of the ban, saying the moratorium on logging had been “foolish”.
“Trees are decaying in the forest while people are struggling to get timber. Do you see the foolishness?” he asked.
He said the government had imposed taxes on anyone importing timber and furniture in the recent budget “because we want all that to be made by the Kenyan people”.
The ban on logging has affected some areas where many people depended on logging as the source of their livelihoods.
The lifting of the ban comes as the government pushes on with its plan to plant 15 billion trees over 10 years to increase the country’s tree cover.