Kenyans Deliver 60,000-Signature Petition to Environment Ministry, Demand Forest Protection Plan Ahead of Mazingira Day
NAIROBI, Oct. 6, 2026 — More than 200 Kenyans marched to the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry on Tuesday and handed over a petition with over 60,000 signatures demanding that the government halt the destruction of public forests and present a forest protection plan on Mazingira Day this Saturday.
The march was led by Greenpeace Africa alongside conservationists, community forest associations and volunteers. The ministry has been given 30 days to respond in writing to each of the petition’s demands.
The petition was received on behalf of Cabinet Secretary Dr. Barasa, who was not present. The official who accepted it said the ministry was committed to conserving and restoring forests, but made no commitment on the demands. He proposed a meeting between the Cabinet Secretary and the campaigners’ leaders on Tuesday next week at about 10 a.m.
“We have seen a cascade of destruction in our forests, and we want the ministry to end its silence,” said Sherie Gakii, Communications and Story Manager at Greenpeace Africa and lead of the Kenya Forest campaign.
Four demands
In an open letter read at the ministry, the petitioners called on the government to:
- Halt destructive projects in Imenti, Nairobi National Park, Ngong Road Forest, Karura, Suam and other protected forests, and respect all court orders protecting them.
- Uphold the logging ban, including restating the ban on the Mau Forest Complex.
- Publicly disclose every excision, easement and license affecting public forests, and ensure meaningful participation by community forest associations and forest-adjacent communities.
- Take firm action against illegal logging and land grabbing, including prosecuting those responsible and recovering public forest land.
They also asked the ministry to use Mazingira Day on October 10 to present its forest protection plan, and to report publicly each year on protection outcomes rather than only the number of trees planted.
Projects named in the petition
The letter cited several cases. In Imenti Forest in Meru, the principal secretary for forests issued concurrence on May 6 for the excision of 2.7 hectares, amid reports of plans for an airstrip, a golf course and a state lodge. The petitioners said aerial footage showed work continuing on the airstrip despite a court order blocking construction.
At Nairobi National Park, court filings describe the relocation of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage and a 1,300-vehicle parking facility in an area designated a low-use zone. The petitioners said that some of the 4,542 Kenyans who went to court to protect the park were kept out of a court-ordered site inspection in July.
Ngong Forest, gazetted in 1932 at about 2,850 hectares, has shrunk to 1,224 hectares through repeated excisions. In July, machinery entered the forest to clear a road linking Talanta Stadium to Bomas, while an eco-lodge was built in the sanctuary block. The Environment and Land Court issued conservatory orders halting both in a case brought by the Law Society of Kenya, the Green Belt Movement and Just Parks.
At Karura Forest, trees were cleared in February around the ranger’s village to house National Youth Service personnel, without consulting Friends of Karura, which co-manages the forest under an agreement running to 2041.
Law under challenge
The campaigners also want a provision of the Forest Conservation and Management (Amendment) Act, 2026, repealed. The law, which took effect on June 16, allows the Kenya Forest Service to grant easements and wayleaves for roads and utilities across gazetted public forests. Gakii said it would make forest protection harder and called for stronger forest governance.
Tree planting criticised
The petitioners said the government’s 15 billion trees programme, running from 2022 to 2032 and targeting 30 percent national tree cover, cannot offset the loss of natural forest. “Growing tree cover while shrinking our forest cover is a contradiction,” the letter said.
“We want a protection plan, not a planting tally,” it added.
Conservation filmmaker Sham Patel said public participation often happens only after projects are announced. He called for a halt to construction inside Nairobi National Park and quarterly check-ins between civil society and the Cabinet Secretary.
Joseph Ihachi, a Greenpeace volunteer and youth representative at the Ngong Forest Association, said communities living next to forests must be consulted before development begins. “This forest is not for the government,” he said.
Ministry response
Receiving the petition, the ministry official said the issues raised would need time for technical officers to review, and suggested some concerns might stem from a lack of information that the government should share. He said gazetted forests are public forests and citizens have a right to know what is happening in them. He defended the 15 billion trees target as a shared effort and said stakeholders would be involved.
“We will look at them and address them appropriately,” he said.
What next
Gakii said the campaign would continue if the government failed to act. “The conversation doesn’t end with this march,” she said, adding that campaigners are not against development but want it to be sustainable.
Mazingira Day will be marked on Saturday, October 10, with national celebrations expected to include a mass tree-planting drive.
