Kenyan authorities have moved to block the ‘uprooting and transportation’ of eight baobab trees to Georgia, after the government said that a license to uproot them was issued ‘irregularly’,
OC Media reports.
In a statement on Monday, Kenya’s Minister of Environment and Forestry, Roselinda Soipan Tuya, said she had revoked a license to transport the trees that had already been uprooted, while a license to uproot the trees had also been revoked.
Documents from the Kenyan Forestry Service seen by OC Media suggest that the trees were destined for the Shekvetili Dendrological Park, which was set up by the founder of Georgia’s ruling party and former prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Monday’s statement said that a private company began illegally uprooting trees in Kenya’s Kilifi County for export to Georgia, without receiving a license to do so.
It said the company then obtained a license, which a local official ‘irregularly issued’.
The minister said the trees that had already been uprooted would be held until an agreement was ‘properly regularised’, including a ‘benefit sharing formula’.
The minister added that such activities could go ahead if they complied with the Convention on Biodiversity, which requires the conservation of biodiversity, sustainability, and fair and equitable use of the benefits.
