Sting operation: Kenya uses hidden bee hives to fight timber smugglers

In Kenya, locals turn to bees for help — logging threatens the stability of the mangrove forests along the coast and, therefore, the environment.

As loggers continue to operate illegally, the community has reassumed its power to respond. Nothing prevents locals from planting beehives covertly along the coast to protect the land instead.

As reported by AP News , in Mombasa County, where the hives have been stationed, 50% of the mangroves are in a state of degradation. That’s over 4,570 acres. So, humans have teamed up with bees as they will protect their turf—attack.

Send in the bees

A lush forest of mangroves flourishes in an inlet along Kenya’s coast, Pate Island at the center of this special ecosystem that includes the Lamu Archipelago. And the extensive and, most importantly, illegal logging has endangered it.

“We knew loggers cut mangroves to get money but didn’t realize they are destroying mangroves in the process,” a local stated in Nature.org ,

However, illegal logging has significantly hindered the mangrove’s natural ability to regenerate, alongside factors like climate change , pollution, and urban development have contributed to the problem, but illegal logging has inhibited the mangrove’s natural ability to regenerate.

A local beekeeper, Peter Nyongesa, AP News reports, even tried reasoning with loggers to practice ethically to no avail. He in turn joined a conservation initiative, Tulinde Mikoko, Swahili for Let’s Protect Mangroves, that has planted beehives along the coast of Mombasa County out of sight.

“As such, when the loggers start cutting down whichever tree, the bees will attack due to the noise.”

As the area is already known for its honey, the increase in beekeeping has provided the local community with additional revenue.

“Mangrove honey is also classified as top quality and medicinal,” as per AP News . A valuable item, a liter can bring in $6 a liter, not an insignificant sum.

This feeds into other efforts currently being diffused , including a women’s association that has started a tree nursery and planted more than 50,000 seedlings, as per Nature.org . The increase in bee populations, then, as one of nature’s key pollinators, only seeks to support new growth as the environmental destruction threatens the community’s livelihood.

Mangroves under threat due to illegal logging

Local populations and wildlife rely on the mangroves as a source of food such as crustaceans and snappers. Also, a natural resource for medicine, housing, and protection against the elements, illegal logging has thrown an entire ecosystem off balance and threatened to destroy it .

“There’s a great connectivity in terms of ecosystems, from mangroves to seagrasses to coral reefs, to open seas…” a conversationalist explained to Nature.org .

Though public efforts have been made, as per AP News , such as a 10-year plan to save the mangroves, due to the lack of resources, however, and sneaky behavior, additional support is needed and fast.

Another conversationist was quoted that “when people realize that something is beneficial to them, they do not consider the harm that comes with it.”

So, locals are taking matters into their own hands. Send in the stingers. Bees aren’t going to be as nice as the community has been.

However, researchers speak with the hope that appropriate management can mitigate some of these disastrous effects.