FOREST IN THE CITY

Today the wagon takes us to the only known indigenous forest within a modern city. Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary borders the slums of Kibera, Nairobi National Park and Langata. Very few cities in the world can boast of an ancient forest that's right in the very heartbeat of the city. If it hadn't been for a few luminaries like the late Dr. Imre Loefler, the forest would certainly have been gobbled up for the much-maligned word 'development'.

It's a rare hot Sunday afternoon. A flash of brilliant colours flies by. It's one of the new birds recorded in the sanctuary - a Narina's Trogon. It looks like it's dressed in a silken robe of green and reds. You won't see this beautiful bird in the brick-a-brac jungle yet in this green glade of trees, it's very much at home.

"We only started seeing this bird recently," remarks Nick, the forest ranger leading us through the Winnie Duku nature trail. "There are other birds that we have began to record for the first time like the Levailant's cuckoo - an intra-African migrant bird found below 2000m above sea-level.

"What other animals are there in the forest?" I venture.

"Leopards...."

Before he can continue, there are exclamations of disbelief...leopards so close to the city center? But having said that, there have been incidences where leopards have been found in unusual places like in the toilet of a factory in Nairobi's industrial area in the 1960s.

It was reported in the press. Another bizarre incidence was about 10 years ago when a workmate of mine was driving to the office, which borders the Nairobi national park and the sanctuary. He spotted a huge leopard on the side of the road.

The ranger continues. "There are warthogs, bush pigs, sunni, dik dik, anteater, porcupines....."

I'm more interested in the snakes, especially the jackson's arboreal viper - it's the only tree climbing viper and a very rare snake. But it's not to be seen. What's more visible are burrows of the warthogs, bush-pigs and the porcupines.

It's deliciously cool walking in the forest, a natural art gallery of sculpted trunks and patterned roots and barks.

Walking along the fence line, we spot Dr Ilmre Loefler's name tag on one of the fence poles. Besides being a surgeon, he was a committed conservationist and fought hard to get the Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary under protection. Every few feet, we read name tags of people who donated money for fence poles to safeguard the precious natural resource from misuse.

"The sanctuary was established in 1993 but only came into operation in 2004," narrates Nicholas. "Since then there's been a lot happening here. It's used as a natural classroom for visiting school groups. as a 'green' gym for fitness enthusiasts, and for the local communities living around like the women from the slum, a place to harvest their honey from their beehives hanging on the trees
and to collect the fallen wood for fuel and for the herbalists a place to collect natural herbs with permission."

Natural indigenous forests are more valued simply because we recognize their importance as carbon sinks to help us from the increasing greenhouse gases that are heating up the earth.

So as a Nairobian, if you want to protect this green lung for yourself and your future family, leave a legacy - have your name tag on one of the fence posts.