Architectural Association calls for immediate halt to tree felling across Kenya

Architectural Association calls for immediate halt to tree felling across Kenya - Trees felled along State House Road, Nairobi. (Photo: Nelson Havi/X)

The Association called for greater public participation in environmental decision-making and the provision of accessible green spaces within neighbourhoods.

The Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) has called for an immediate halt to tree felling across the country, warning that the destruction of forests and urban green spaces threatens public health, biodiversity and climate resilience.

In a statement issued on Friday, October 16, 2026, AAK expressed concern over the removal of trees along major roads in Nairobi, including Uhuru Highway, Mombasa Road, State House Road, Kenyatta Avenue and Valley Road, as well as the felling of mature trees along Oginga Odinga Avenue in Nakuru.

AAK also raised concerns over tree felling along the Mau Summit–Rironi highway and logging in ecologically sensitive areas, including the Aberdare ecosystem, Karura Forest, Saboti Forest, Imenti Forest and Kapchemutwa Forest.

“Trees are increasingly being treated as expendable obstacles to development, infrastructure expansion, and the demand for timber and land. This must stop,” AAK said.

The Association warned that the destruction of forests undermines flood prevention, water regulation, air quality and biodiversity while worsening the urban heat island effect.

It said the ongoing loss of trees contradicted the government’s 15 billion tree-growing programme, which seeks to restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded landscapes and increase Kenya’s national tree cover to 30 per cent by 2032.

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“We cannot credibly commit to restoring our landscapes and combating climate change while allowing the avoidable destruction of the very ecosystems that underpin these ambitions,” the statement said.

AAK acknowledged that infrastructure development, housing and economic growth were essential to Kenya’s progress but insisted that they must not come at the expense of the environment.

The Association called on national and county governments, the Kenya Forest Service and the National Environment Management Authority to investigate the reported incidents, hold those responsible accountable and make tree preservation mandatory in infrastructure planning and development approvals.

It also urged developers to conduct tree inventories before construction, prioritise indigenous species in restoration programmes and involve qualified experts in identifying trees that could be transplanted rather than felled.

“To destroy nature is to undermine humanity’s own survival,” AAK said in the statement.

The Association further called for greater public participation in environmental decision-making and the provision of accessible green spaces within neighbourhoods.