Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Being in the shade of a tree next to 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 informed the BBC.
"Land is very crucial to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the many individuals opposed to the creation of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 individuals as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian company has asked the authorities for authorization to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be turned into bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The location affected is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has rented almost a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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