Njovu says Sakale village was the most affected out of 18 villages bordering the reserve. “As time went by, the problem intensified- that was five years ago, when the number of miners escalated to over 10,000.
It started with some few local communities but later other people from different parts of the country stormed the area for mining,” the village leader says. He adds: “Sections of the forest reserve were destroyed and streams were also polluted as some miners used mercury in their mining activities.”
He credits the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund (EAMCEF) and ANR for thorough education on the importance of conserving the forest.
According to him, illegal mining is no longer going on in the area because of a number of interventions including introduction of income generating activities such as beekeeping, fish-farming, charcoal saving stoves, poultry keeping and introduction of forest and environmental management committees in every village.
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