EU & WB's Funding Carbon Colonialism 'Kills' Indigenous Communities, Kenyan Sengwer Activist Says
EU & WB's Funding Carbon Colonialism 'Kills' Indigenous Communities, Kenyan Sengwer Activist Says
The Sengwer—10,000-strong Indigenous hunter-gatherers in western Kenya—were violently evicted from their ancestral forests in 2013 to make way for carbon offset projects funded by the World Bank and the EU.
"Actually, this is […] like a new [form of] colonialism. There is no difference with colonialists that came and dispossessed all of our lands," Elias Kimaiyo, Sengwer land rights activist, told Sputnik Africa.
Moreover, this forced displacement is "almost a green genocide," the speaker noted.
He stressed that indigenous stewardship—not outside conservation schemes—protects ecosystems. The Sengwers now lead reforestation with native species, countering harmful tree-planting drives that ignore local ecology.
The Sengwers demand to stop funding evictions and recognize their land and forest ownership, he stated.
"We need a forest ownership, because that is part and parcel of our life."
Watch video 2 to see how indigenous plants are nurtured—and witness the beauty of the land that rightfully belongs to the Sengwer
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