Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.

"Land is very important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is one of the numerous people opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for permission to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is poisonous. The location affected is community land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa