Kenyans have been clashing over the future of 167,000 acres of forestland around Mount Kenya since the government announced in February that it would clear the land so that landless farmers could live there. The acreage represents about 7 percent of the country’s total remaining forest cover. Environmentalists in the Green Belt Movement say that’s too much to lose, especially for a country that has seen three-quarters of its forests hacked down in the last 150 years. They believe the land will become the private property of government loyalists, and not end up in the hands of poor squatters. President Daniel arap Moi, on the other hand, argues that much of the land to be cleared has already been settled by squatters. Government officials say their plan will also help conserve parts of the forest by better defining boundaries where encroachment won’t be allowed.
