Mombasa: Uproar as giant tree at Uhuru Gardens is cut down, hundreds of bats left in the cold

• Environmental activists in Mombasa are protesting after the local administration removed trees from Uhuru Gardens.
• The trees felled within the garden included those that had provided shelter for countless bats, which had attracted many tourists.
• As per the environmental activists, this action represented unchecked audacity and amounted to an ecological crisis.

In Mombasa, two massive trees at the well-known Uhuru Gardens have been felled, putting at risk numerous bats that made these trees their home.

On Thursday, May 29, the local administration of Mombasa County removed the two historic trees that had stood since Kenya achieved independence.

Environmental Activists in Mombasa Oppose Tree Removal Initiative

Environmental activists have cautioned that this step could potentially threaten the bats that consider these trees as their habitat. Additionally, the trees play a crucial role in regulating Mombasa’s local climate by offering shade and minimizing heat.

Mohamed Hersi, a prominent figure in the hospitality industry and a strong voice for environmental protection, criticized the decision to cut down the five-century-old trees situated at a key tourism location, calling it an unjust action.

"Anyone claiming that these century-old trees posed a threat to anybody is simply lying," Hersi stated. JWtimurnews.co.ke .

"The same level of damage is occurring at the railway circle. Being a hotel owner, we refrain from cutting down trees altogether. Instead, we trim them, and only remove one if it poses a risk of collapsing. The ones taken down were robust trees," he mentioned additionally.

A fellow environmental advocate, Love Paula, described the event as an ecological crisis.

She mentioned that losing the trees and bats could have devastating effects on biodiversity, urban cooling, and people's quality of life.

"These bats play a crucial role, as they are endangered, and their habitats are important for Mombasa’s microclimate — they offer shade to thousands of individuals and assist in reducing the intense coastal heat," observed Paula.

On busy days, the garden attracts numerous local and foreign visitors who come to observe colonies of bats living nearby, right next to the renowned ivory tusks monument. However, this could be altered as the trees in the area are being cut down.

Why did Mombasa County remove trees from Uhuru Gardens?

In spite of the controversy, officials from the Mombasa county government maintain that the trees were cut down preemptively because they were aged, a claim that local environmentalists in Mombasa refute.

In a statement, Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir noted that the trees had posed a danger to the public, adding that the heavy rains expected soon could cause damage to the county and its people.

Nassir additionally explained that the tree removal activity was carried out following an evaluation by the Department of Water, Natural Resources, and Climate Change Resilience, along with a decision made by the County Disaster Management Committee.

Mombasa housing project abandoned

Earlier reports from JWtimurnews.co.ke indicated that several senators were taken aback upon their visit to the Mzizima Affordable Housing project location in Mombasa.

The lawmakers discovered no progress on the land more than a year since President William Ruto initiated the construction work.

They likewise raised concerns about the status of numerous residents who were displaced from their homes at first to make room for the project.