Kenyan President William Ruto recently announced the lifting of a six-year logging ban, prompting both praise and criticism from environmentalists and stakeholders. The ban was originally instituted in 2018 when Ruto served as Deputy President due to concerns surrounding water catchment areas and a looming drought.

The President has argued it is “foolish” to have mature trees rot in forests while local industries lack timber, and has instead proposed harvesting timber to create jobs for youth. The move to lift the logging ban has come alongside the President’s plan to plant 15 billion trees over 10 years in efforts to combat climate change. John Kioli, Executive Director of the Green Africa Foundation, has asserted that such a nationwide lifting of the ban will make it difficult to monitor the movement’s environmental impacts, and has expressed his doubts that the tree-planting goal can be achieved given the amount of cutting that will likely occur.

The President’s speech at the Global Citizen Festival in Paris has been met with both approval and disapproval. Many have praised the efforts to take action to prevent global warming, while others have argued the logging ban’s reversal puts those efforts in jeopardy. Though the government has yet to disclose its methodology for deciding which trees are ready to harvest, Kioli has suggested the process should be done in phases to better monitor the environmental impacts. President Ruto’s decision has stirred up controversy over the balance between environmental protection and job creation. As the nation awaits further details on logging regulations, the debate over the environmental and economic effects of the ban’s reversal continues. Whether the President’s ambitious plan to plant 15 billion trees will be successful remains to be seen.