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