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Bobby Neptune
A fire believed to have been started by illegal marijuana farmers is threatening tens of thousands of hectares of bamboo forest in Mount Kenya.
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Bobby Neptune
It has already destroyed 80 square kilometres of moorland and is now threatening indigenous forests.
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Bobby Neptune
The blaze, which started six days ago, is burning on two fronts and is spread by high temperatures and strong winds.
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Bobby Neptune
Kenya has limited resources to fight fires of this magnitude.
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Bobby Neptune
The fight to control the blaze is in the hands of 125 people from the local community, the forestry and wildlife services and private conservation organisations, who are out on the ground with basic fire beaters.
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Bobby Neptune
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Bobby Neptune
The fire, blamed on farmers clearing an area to plant marijuana, threatens one of the five highland areas known as Kenya’s “water towers”, which feed the rivers and provide three-quarters of the country’s freshwater.
A second front of the fire threatens 400 square kilometres of bamboo forest and its vital ecosystem.
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Bobby Neptune
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Bobby Neptune
Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa.
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Bobby Neptune
Photos by Bobby Neptune