Whenever I am in any of our beautiful forests, be it Kakamega, Kĩreita, or Karura, I am reminded again and again of how deeply blessed and extraordinarily beautiful our country is. Consider Kakamega Forest. It is the easternmost remnant of the great Congo-Guinean rainforest that once covered the entire heart of Africa.
Inside its dense, layered canopy lives a world of abundance: Close to 500 species of butterflies, including Goliath beetles and the pink and green flower mantis, 36 species of snakes, many of them found nowhere else on Earth, among them the Gold’s Cobra and the Kaimosi Blind Snake, endemic to Kakamega alone. There are 380 recorded plant species, 60 varieties of orchids, and nine plant species found only in this forest. Kenya’s natural inheritance is amazing and precious and on Biodiversity Day last week, and every day, we stand as fierce and devoted guardians of these hubs of biodiversity called forests.
