Maathai calls for eucalyptus ban
No commentsNobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai has called for a ban on commercial eucalyptus tree plantations in the country. She says the tree is contributing to the depletion of water through its high rate of demand.
With farmers producing the trees for economic gain, Professor Maathai says they should be removed.
“Surely there must be some things that would be more appropriate than eucalyptus”, she told journalists at the World Agroforestry Congress in Nairobi. “It’s about the long term impact of trees on land versus the short term economic benefits.”
Farmers have ventured into planting eucalyptus as a way of increasing their income. Some farmers in Lari in Kiambu district even abandoned coffee to grow the trees, because of their enormous potential. The tree is used for building, fences and electricity posts.
“The long term damage to the environment is not worth the short term economic benefit of an individual farmer, so we really have to replace them with more appropriate trees, otherwise we will one day be left with a desert”, Professor Maathai said.
She argues that the original aim of introducing the tree from Australia was good, but now has been misinterpreted, since “they have been so over-promoted in every aspect of our land, including cutting our indigenous trees and replacing them with monocultures.”
The eucalyptus controversy has long been debated in Kenya. At one point the Environment Minister, John Michuki, directed that all eucalyptus along riverine areas should be uprooted.
Professor Maathai argues that it is not about how much or little water it takes from the ground.
The tree, known in one Kenyan dialect as munyua mai, ” the water guzzler”, has drawn mixed reactions from researchers in the field. A tree specialist with a Kenyan non-governmental organisation disagrees vehemently with Professor Maathai’s call, and says the benefits of the tree far outweigh its detrimental aspects. He says it poses no threat to the environment if planted in the right place.
“It’s all about site matching, because different species are suited to different places”, he said.
He actually advocates the planting of more eucalyptus in the country.
“There are only 100,000 hectares of eucalyptus, and not the four million being touted by many people. We need more trees”, he said in an interview.
Professor Maathai says beneficial trees which do no harm to the environment should be encouraged instead of eucalyptus: “As long as we continue using these trees on farms and especially along the rivers and in our forests,we will continue experiencing water shortage. And it will become even more of a problem in the future as climate change hits us.”
Dr. Robert Brook, of the University of Wales in the UK, wonders why the spotlight is on the eucalyptus when there are so many other trees that extract large amounts of water from the soil.
“I think the criticism has been overdone, ” he says. “From my personal observation, teak, an exotic tree, extracts more water.”
Dr. Brook believes the criticism arises from the fact that the tree is easy to grow. “I’ve seen it planted in solid blocs in india. Nothing grows underneath, and when the heavy monsoon rain comes, the soil is washed off, and that leads to the silting of dams.”
Therefore, he says, the advantage lies in planting in the right place.
“When planted in singles, twos, threes, or in rows, it should not be a problem”, he says.
“I have spoken to farmers in Swaziland and India . They said because of its good price upon maturity, they will plant more of it. ”
“It’s an investment, because it will earn money for me or for my son”, one farmer told him.
