Reprieve for Nairobi fig tree

4th December 2020

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Bad news abounds these days – ranging from dictators who are clinging on to power by hook or crook to death on a wide scale as a result of Covid-19 and sagging economies, with the attendant impact on livelihoods. Instead of touching on any of that, I have elected to go light-hearted this week, focusing on a century-plus-old tree in Nairobi, Kenya, that was due to be cut down but will now live to see another day.

The tree in question, a vast fig tree that had long been a haven of shade in the capital city’s concrete sprawl, had been slated for removal to make way for a Chinese-funded 27 km, four-lane highway being built to ease traffic congestion. The announcement of this decision, in October, drew criticism from not only environmentalists but also cultural leaders, including those from the country’s most populous ethnic grouping, the Kikuyu, who deem the fig tree to be sacred.

To mollify the critics, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) suggested uprooting the tree and planting it elsewhere. That was rejected out of hand and the campaign to save the famous tree persisted – until a petition landed on the desk of President Uhuru Kenyatta. In mid-November, he duly issued a decree to save the tree, which is the height of a four-storey building, describing it as “a beacon of Kenya’s cultural and ecological heritage”.

Following the last-minute reprieve, the NMS announced the tree would not only be saved but also preserved as a national symbol of environmental conservation, with the NMS director-general, Mohammed Badi, telling reporters that he had instructed city officials to fence off the tree and beautify the area so that residents could enjoy the space. “Whatever development that is going to happen here will not touch this tree,” he assured.

While the plan to cut down the now world-famous fig tree was the last straw, opposition to the highway project – being implemented by the China Road & Bridge Corporation and scheduled for completion in 2022 – had faced opposition from the outset. Environmentalists’ main gripe is the felling of trees along the highway’s route, which, they aver, will have a detrimental effect on air quality and green spaces. In fact, a complaint has been lodged against the environmental regulator for giving the project the green light. Ordinarily, this would have led to the suspension of the project pending a ruling by a court of law, but construction is proceeding.

That Kenyatta issued a decree to save and preserve a tree should not be surprising, given Kenya’s conservation pedigree. This is the country that gave the world the late Wangari Maathai, who, through the Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977, mobilised Kenyans – mostly women – to plant more than 30-million trees and inspired the United Nations to launch a campaign that has led to the planting of about 11-billion trees worldwide. More than 900 000 Kenyan women reportedly benefited from Maathai’s tree-planting campaign through selling seedlings for forestation.

Her efforts did not go unnoticed. In 2004, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded her the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. The citation made reference to “peace on Earth [depending] on our ability to secure our living environment”.

A foundation named after her was established in 2015 to initiate and support projects that would further her values, vision and commitment, and her understanding of the interconnectedness of the environment, democracy and peace. It is chaired by her daughter Wanjira, who, when the NMS was forced to backtrack on its decision to cut down the Nairobi fig tree, commented: “We have to ensure nature and our lived environments coexist and complement infrastructure development at all levels.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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