They argue that the country is losing US$1.6m every year by not exploiting the forests, which they say are now in better shape than when the ban was introduced in 1999.
The Friends of Mau Watershed said it was a waste not to harvest mature plantations.
The goverment’s new Forest Act, which allows for commercialisation of plantations, cannot be implemented until certain conditions are met, including the transformation of the forest department into the Kenyan Forest Service
Kenya imports an estimated US$3.8m worth of timber from neighbouring African countries to feed the domestic construction industry.
The country currently has 1.7 million ha of forest cover, of which 120,000ha are softwood plantations.
