Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Being in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is extremely important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the lots of individuals opposed to the creation of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for permission to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be turned into bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is harmful. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually rented practically a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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