The last few days have been, for many nature lovers, a dread­ful case of déjà vu. The plans by the Kenyan gov­ern­ment to excise part of the world famous Karu­ra For­est for the con­struc­tion of a dual car­riage­way along Kiambu Road, have rekin­dled mem­o­ries of a dark past in Kenya’s envi­ron­men­tal governance.

Let me make it clear, Karu­ra For­est is not just anoth­er fan­ci­ful pre­oc­cu­pa­tion of overzeal­ous envi­ron­men­tal­ists. This 1,041-hectare sanc­tu­ary is a vital eco­log­i­cal and cul­tur­al trea­sure that sup­ports the health and well-being of mil­lions of Nairo­bians. The open canopy for­est could pass for a vast exten­sion of liv­ing rooms in Nairo­bi. It occu­pies a spe­cial inti­mate place in the hearts of Nairo­bians who throng there every week­end for some seren­i­ty and fit­ness. Indeed, Karu­ra stands as one of Africa’s last remain­ing urban forests.

The pro­posed project, which also includes licens­es for recre­ation­al facil­i­ties and an ablu­tion block with­in the for­est, rep­re­sents an alarm­ing dis­re­gard for this immense eco­log­i­cal and cul­tur­al val­ue the for­est holds.

Karu­ra serves as Nairobi’s urban green lung, offer­ing essen­tial envi­ron­men­tal ser­vices that ben­e­fit not only the neigh­bor­ing com­mu­ni­ties but the city as a whole. It plays a crit­i­cal role in water con­ser­va­tion, bio­di­ver­si­ty preser­va­tion, and cli­mate change mit­i­ga­tion. Its dense canopy absorbs car­bon diox­ide, mit­i­gates urban heat, and improves air qual­i­ty for mil­lions of res­i­dents. Such val­ue can­not be mea­sured in mon­e­tary terms or replaced by a road.

In African tra­di­tion, nat­ur­al sites like Karu­ra are revered as sacred spaces. They embody the inter­con­nect­ed­ness of peo­ple and nature, a bond root­ed in respect and preser­va­tion. More­over, the for­est pro­tects key water sources, ensur­ing steady infil­tra­tion of rain­wa­ter into under­ground aquifers. Destroy­ing even a por­tion of this for­est would lead to sed­i­men­ta­tion in rivers, reduced water qual­i­ty, and com­pro­mised water secu­ri­ty for the city’s rapid­ly grow­ing population.

Encroach­ment on this frag­ile ecosys­tem would exac­er­bate cli­mate risks at a time when Kenya has com­mit­ted to increas­ing its for­est cov­er to 30% by 2032. How can we rec­on­cile such com­mit­ments with actions that con­tra­dict them?

Beyond its eco­log­i­cal impor­tance, Karu­ra For­est holds pro­found cul­tur­al and his­tor­i­cal val­ue. It is a liv­ing lega­cy of Nobel Lau­re­ate Wan­gari Maathai’s tire­less fight against ille­gal land grabs and envi­ron­men­tal degra­da­tion. Hiv­ing off any part of the for­est on the 20^th anniver­sary of Maathai’s Nobel recog­ni­tion, would be a cru­el act of betrayal.

Fur­ther, the Con­sti­tu­tion of Kenya enshrines the right to a clean and healthy envi­ron­ment for all cit­i­zens. It also man­dates sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and the pre­cau­tion­ary prin­ci­ple, which require that actions poten­tial­ly harm­ful to the envi­ron­ment be avoid­ed unless absolute­ly nec­es­sary. The government’s plans for Karu­ra For­est appear to vio­late these principles.

Pub­lic par­tic­i­pa­tion, a cor­ner­stone of envi­ron­men­tal gov­er­nance, has also been woe­ful­ly inad­e­quate. Stake­hold­ers were not prop­er­ly informed of the extent of the pro­posed exci­sion or the long-term impacts on the for­est. Licens­es for the road con­struc­tion were issued with­out com­pre­hen­sive envi­ron­men­tal assess­ments, fur­ther under­min­ing trust in the process.

Karu­ra For­est is a local trea­sure; a nation­al and a glob­al asset. The fight to pro­tect it is about sav­ing trees, safe­guard­ing the future of Nairobi’s envi­ron­ment, econ­o­my, and cul­tur­al her­itage. Even if those involved do not respect the envi­ron­ment, at least let them appear to, for God sees.

So please, leave Karu­ra For­est alone. Use inno­v­a­tive solu­tions like expand­ing roads above exist­ing ones—this is not rock­et sci­ence. We will not be fooled. Today it’s 51.64 acres, tomor­row it’ll be more.

For the avoid­ance of doubt, Karura’s trees are not alone; out­side here, there are stronger defend­ers ready to fight. We will not stand by and watch our her­itage sac­ri­ficed at the altar of reck­less­ness. This is a fight for our rights, our lives, our future, our legacy.

The late Prof Wan­gari Maathai left us with this chill­ing warn­ing: “Nature is very unfor­giv­ing. If you destroy nature, it will destroy you’.

Togeth­er, let us rise and say with one voice: Hands off Karu­ra For­est! Think green, act green!