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Next to the world-famous Maasai Mara national reserve, an indigenous forest called Nyekweri serves as a sanctuary for elephants, rare birds such as the bright green Schalow's turaco, a small nocturnal mammal called the tree hyrax and the endangered giant pangolin.

Despite its importance as a conservation hotspot and ecotourism destination, Nyekweri is disappearing. Originally, it spanned 500km² but more than 50% of this forest has been cleared within two decades by local communities.

If you stroll through the forest today, wisps of smoke linger in the air as charcoal pits smolder across the landscape. While charcoal burning is illegal in Kenya, enforcement on private land remains a challenge. As I researched the dynamics of this deforestation, landowners told me they earn approximately 200 Kenyan shillings (£1.22) per sac of charcoal produced.

During the recent subdivision of the Maasai group ranches in the Trans Mara district, families were allocated parcels within the forest ranging between 12 to 36 acres in size. This gives them the right to do what they wish with the land they now own. Beforehand, the forest was communally owned and managed. Now, many new landowners are clearing the forest to make space for settlements, livestock and farmland.

"There used to be trees as big as this," one local Maasai landowner remarked as he stretched his arms to illustrate the width of former trees. The largest and oldest trees have already been stripped away, as they yield the most charcoal, leaving behind only darkened stumps as haunting reminders of what once thrived here.

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