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 Words in the News
INTRO 
  Andrew Harding, BBC East Africa correspondent reports on growing protests in Kenya over government plans to hand over vast areas of protected forest land to squatters.
IN FULL 
 AudioListen to the report in full
Forest in Kenya

8th March 2001

Protecting Kenya's forests

NEWS 1 
 AudioListen to the first part of the report
  Passions are stirring on the slopes of Mount Kenya. Angry protesters have been marching through the region's protected forests. They are demanding that the government abandons plans to carve out a total of more than 160,000 acres. That land, which represents one tenth of all Kenya's forests, is to be handed over to squatters and local authorities. The government says it's simply trying to tidy up the forest boundaries, and that much of the land is already being lived on. But Kenyan newspapers have described the scheme as a foolhardy and heinous crime.

Critics believe it's well connected individuals not squatters who stand to gain, and that the government may try to use the land to buy support in the run up to next year's elections. Environmentalists argue that Kenya simply cannot afford to lose any more forests. Mount Kenya is a major water catchment area, but illegal logging has already had a devastating impact on the area and on water supplies at a time when millions of people here are being affected by drought.
WORDS 
 

Passions are stirring: people are starting to react with strong feelings

carve out : creating an area for this use

squatters: a squatter is a person who lives in an empty property or piece of land but who does not own the property or have a legal right to it

a foolhardy and heinous crime: foolish (because it is dangerous) and evil

well connected individuals : people who know people who have power or influence

Environmentalists: an environmentalist is a person who wants to protect and preserve the natural environment

water catchment area: an area that water runs down to

illegal logging: cutting down trees without permission in order to sell the wood

NEWS 2  AudioListen to the second part of the report
  "When you denude the land you make it much easier for there to be these extreme cycles, where you have floods during the wet season and then rivers dry up during the dry season. And in a country where people depend onnatural sources of water, people will definitely become poorer. This particular policy, it's bad".

The United Nations has echoed those concerns and earlier this week a German environmental organisation decided to withdraw a conservation award to the Kenyan government. The award would have been in recognition of Kenya's campaign against lifting the ban on ivory sales.
   
WORDS  

denude the land: when you denude something you remove or take off everything (such as vegetation) from it

cycles: a cycle is a series of events that always happen in the same order, such as seasons

depend on: if you depend on something you know it will be there when you need it

natural sources of water: water from rivers and lakes rather than from artificial dams

  Read about the background in BBC News Online
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