Kenya Forest Service Issues Alert on Fraudsters Enquiring About Forest Plantations Harvesting

The Kenya Forest Service on Wednesday, January 22, informed Kenyans of a new method used by fraudsters to swindle Kenyans concerning forest plantation harvesting.

Through a statement, the KFS cautioned Kenyans of the fraudsters, providing a breakdown of the strategy employed by the swindlers to take advantage of unsuspecting Kenyans.

“Kenya Forest Service wishes to warn the public to beware of fraudsters pretending to make calls enquiring on the progress of forest plantations harvesting. These cons are using the number 0721440278 and identifying themselves as senior KFS staff,” KFS disclosed.

“These swindlers pretend to be enquiring from sawmillers about any concerns they may be facing, after which they ask for money to resolve their concerns or challengers,” they added.

Forest plantation harvesting is the process of cutting down trees in a plantation to prepare them for use by a consumer. It involves several steps, including felling, delimbing, debarking, and transporting the logs to a processing mill.

According to KFS, forest plantations make up six per cent of Kenya’s gazetted forest cover which is majorly made up of exotic trees. The trees have a rotation period of 25 to 30 years after which they begin to rot if not harvested.

In Kenya, forest harvesting or logging, has been a bone of contention with different parties differing on the impact of logging on forests. In 2024, President William Ruto lifted a six-year ban on logging after a moratorium had prohibited forest logging.

In November 2024, many Kenyans caused uproar after videos emerged of forest rangers cutting down trees in Karura. At the time, it was not clear that the logging had fully taken effect and the cutting down of trees was a consequence of forest harvesting. 

However, KFS and the Friends of Karura Conservation Group quickly came out to clarify the situation stating that the logging was being done in line with the law and as part of restoration efforts. 

Bigger picture: The recent efforts by fraudsters to defraud Kenyans stem from the fact that forest plantation harvesting is a billion-shilling activity in the country. When the ban on logging was first introduced in 2018, the KFS reportedly earned Ksh2.7 billion from forest plantations.

Consequently, the KFS advised Kenyans to report such fraudulent incidents to KFS offices or police stations for further investigations.

“The public is cautioned to desist from sending money to any individual claiming to represent the Service for whatever reasons. It is likely they may opt to use other numbers hence the public is advised to remain vigilant,” KFS stated.