Over 700 hectares of forest cover has been destroyed by raging fire at the Aberdare range in the last three days. Confirming the destruction, area Chief Warden Bajila Kofa appealed for assistance, saying his officers, members of the public and Kenya Forest Service warden are overwhelmed by the fire.
“We have teams on the ground assisted by members of the public and Community Forest Association members. But the situation is bad we are appealing for any support to help contain the fires,” said Mr Kofa.
He said the fire has already destroyed more than 700 hundred hectares of land at the national park and is still raging on. “We are having bad times here. The most hit areas are Malewa and the Table Mountain regions of the national park,” said Mr Kofa. He said the fire was caused by honey harvesters and community activities, with residents burning the grass to kill ticks.
“The fire originated from the neighbor farms before escalating to the park. The residents were burning the vegetation to kill the ticks; they normally do it during the dry season. We also have some illegal charcoal burning activities that might have worsened the situation,” said Mr Kofa.