Add 'Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion'

Kenyans-Fear-Dakatcha-Woodlands-Biofuel-Expansion.md

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+<br>Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth<br>
+<br>23 March 2011<br>
+<br>By Will Ross<br>
+<br>BBC News, Dakatcha<br>
+<br>Sitting in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is defiant.<br>
+<br>"We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood," he informed the BBC.<br>
+<br>"Land is extremely important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."<br>
+<br>He is one of the numerous people opposed to the production of a large [biofuel](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1463471/000165495419013063/R31.htm) plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.<br>
+<br>It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 individuals as well as worldwide threatened animal and bird types.<br>
+<br>Ambitious goals<br>
+<br>An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for permission to rent 50,000 [hectares](https://www.energy-xprt.com/companies/mission-newenergy-limited-36048) there to grow [jatropha](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/51278-86), whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be turned into bio-diesel.<br>
+<br>This plant, [initially](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1463471/000165495419013063/R31.htm) from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is poisonous. The location affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.<br>
+<br>Kenya [jatropha curcas](https://forest500.org/rankings/companies/mission-newenergy-limited) Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the [Milan-based Nuove](https://forest500.org/rankings/companies/mission-newenergy-limited) Iniziative Industriali SRL.<br>
+<br>It has leased almost a million hectares in Africa