NAIROBI, Kenya - The Kenyan government has officially lifted a long-standing moratorium on logging within state and community forests, a decision President William Ruto announced on Monday, October 27, 2025, will be strictly limited to the harvesting of mature trees. The move is intended to revitalize Kenya's timber industry, generate employment, and reduce the country's reliance on imported furniture.

Speaking at Molo Technical and Vocational College in Nakuru County, President Ruto stated the policy shift aims to utilize timber from aging trees that would otherwise rot in forests. "We shall reopen the timber factories here in Elburgon," the President declared, adding, "I have told my Minister of Trade, Mr. Lee Kinyanjui, that importing furniture from China must end. We will use our wood to make furniture." The government plans to begin selling mature trees to local sawmillers as early as next week and will meet with industry stakeholders to establish clear guidelines for sustainable harvesting.

This decision reverses a ban first instituted in 2018 to curb rampant deforestation and protect Kenya's vital water catchment areas. An earlier attempt to lift the ban in June 2023 was halted by the High Court following a petition by the Law Society of Kenya, which cited a lack of public participation. It remains to be seen if this latest directive will face similar legal challenges.

Economic Imperatives vs. Environmental Concerns

The government's rationale is primarily economic. By supplying local sawmillers with mature timber, the administration aims to create jobs, particularly for the youth, and bolster local manufacturing. The timber harvested is also slated to support the Affordable Housing Programme by providing materials for locally-made furniture. Recent data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics' Economic Survey highlighted a significant economic impact during a temporary lifting of the ban, with timber sales from government forests surging to 618,800 cubic metres in 2024 from 159,400 in 2023. The contribution of forestry and logging to the GDP rose from 1.8 percent in 2023 to 2.1 percent in 2024, with the sector's value increasing to Sh344.2 billion from Sh277.4 billion.

However, the move has been met with apprehension by environmental organizations. Critics worry that lifting the ban, even conditionally, could reverse the gains made in increasing Kenya's forest cover, which grew from 5.99% in 2018 to 8.83% in 2022. John Kioli, Executive Director of the Green Africa Foundation, previously expressed concern that such a move could undermine efforts to put Kenya on a low-carbon path and that a nationwide lifting would be difficult to monitor. Environmental groups like the Kenya Forest Working Group (KFWG) and East African Wildlife Society (EAWLS) have stressed the need to maintain a strict ban on logging in indigenous forests, which provide critical ecosystem services.

A Regulated Approach

The government has insisted that the lifting of the ban is not a license for uncontrolled environmental destruction. President Ruto emphasized that harvesting will be done responsibly and sustainably. The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has previously indicated that any harvesting would be guided by a systematic plan, limiting felling to a maximum of 5,000 hectares annually and ensuring immediate replanting. This decision was reportedly informed by a multi-agency task force inventory conducted between 2020 and 2022, which found a large stock of mature and over-mature trees in forest plantations at risk of rotting.

The President's announcement coincided with his launch of the Mau Forest Complex Integrated Conservation and Livelihood Improvement Programme, where he led a tree-planting exercise aimed at restoring 33,000 hectares of the critical water tower. This dual approach signals the government's stated commitment to balancing economic needs with its ambitious environmental goal of planting 15 billion trees by 2032 to achieve a 30% national tree cover. However, watchdog groups remain skeptical, arguing that the challenges of corruption and illegal logging that led to the ban in 2018 have not been fully resolved. They are calling for transparency and strict enforcement to ensure the conditional lifting does not open the door to the widespread degradation seen in the past.