Latest Updates

28 July 2010: The Deputy Director of the East Africa Wildlife Society answers to The Standard on the two articles appearing on the 20th and 21st July 2010. More>>

26 July 2010: Doubts emerging over the potential of the jatropha plant to solve the country's fuel challenges. More>> 

21 July 2010: NEMA says that jatropha curcas  would be planted alongside mature tree within the Dakatcha Woodlands forest. More>>

20 July 2010: Residents differ with NGO, endorse bio-fuel project. (The Standard). 

16 July 2010: URGENT APPEAL KENYA: 20,000 PEOPLE FACE DISPLACEMENT AS EUROPEAN BIOFUELS TAKE OVER IN MALINDI. Take action with us and help defend the people of Malindi, their food, sovereignty, their right to their own land and prevent the destruction of the precious Dakatcha woodlands.>>

06 July 2010: The Executive Director of Nature Kenya today condemned the attack on Francis Kagema, the Nature Kenya Coast region Conservation Co-ordinator and two journalists who were on a Jatropha Curcas fact finding mission in Malindi by suspected Kenya Jatropha Ltd. workers in a press conference. Read the press statement here>>

05 July 2010: The Executive Director of Nature writes to the Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources condemning an attack on a Nature Kenya staff, Kenya Wildlife Service officers and journalists at Malindi while they were on a fact finding mission on Jatropha curcas. Read the letter here>>

21 June 2010: The campaign against commercial Jatropha cultivation is aired on NTV 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. news, with views from the community representatives being emphasized. View>>

21 June 2010: The Executive Director of Nature Kenya today read a press statement on the organization's stand on commercial biofuel production at the Dakatcha Woodlands. Also present was the Deputy Director of the East African Wildlife Society who also read a statement and Joshua Kahindi and Jacob Kokani, representatives from the Dakatcha community, who voiced their concerns on the loss of ancestral land should the biofuel project commence. The press conference was well attended by various media houses.

25 May 2010: Nature Kenya accused of tarnishing the name of the Malindi County Council in the ongoing campaign to stop commercial biofuel production at Dakatcha. More >>

25 May 2010: Nature Kenya and other stakeholders write a memorandum on the setting aside of 50,000 Ha of trust land for Jatropha cultivation in the Bungale area, Marafa by Kenya Jatropha Energy Limited. More>>

29 March 2010: Nature Kenya writes to the Minister for Environment

Click here to read the letter on-line.

25 March 2010: NEMA announces that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Kenya Jatropha Energy project is available for comments. Comments to be sent in to NEMA within 30 days.

21 March 2010: Community empowerment continues at Dakatcha:

A total of Fifteen schools, 11 primary and 4 secondary schools, have been reached by staff from Wildlife Clubs of Kenya and Dakatcha Woodland Site Support Groups with Environmental education films, lectures, talks and field excursion tours. Read more...

10 March 2010: Nature Kenya writes to the Minister for Environment:

Click here to read the letter on-line

9 March 2010: Some sad news about Dakatcha:

Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd, the company proposing to grow Jatropha curcas in Dakatcha woodland, have started clearing the woodland. Read more...

DAKATCHA WOODLAND

The Dakatcha landscape consists of a series of dry forests, dense thickets and open woodlands dominated by spreading Brachystegia spiciformis trees (Mrihi), interspersed with active and abandoned farmlands, in the rolling hills northwest of Malindi town. To the south, the site is bordered by the wide Galana-Sabaki River. The wooded hills are vital water catchments for the surrounding farmland.

The forest of Dakatcha Woodland stores water, protects the soil, shelters unique animals and plants, and provides environmental services and direct benefits to the local people.  

Clarke’s Weaver, a species of bird, is found in only two places on Earth: Dakatcha Woodland, and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest to the south. Clarke’s Weaver probably nests in Dakatcha Woodland, although its nest has never been found. This site is therefore of critical conservation value to Kenya and the world. Without Dakatcha Woodland, Clarke’s Weaver would become extinct.  

Nature Kenya recognizes the Government of Kenya’s concern about Climate Change, and its efforts to promote alternative energy technologies. Biofuels such as oil palm, sugarcane and Jatropha curcas have been marketed in many countries as an alternative form of energy. However, that was before the negative effects of commercial biofuels on food production and natural habitats were fully known. 

Click on the link for Nature Kenya's policy on biofuels.