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<br>Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands [biofuel](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1463471/000165495419013063/R31.htm) expansion<br> |
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<br>23 March 2011<br> |
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<br>By Will Ross<br> |
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<br>BBC News, Dakatcha<br> |
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<br>Being in the shade of a tree next to his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is defiant.<br> |
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<br>"We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.<br> |
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<br>"Land is extremely essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."<br> |
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<br>He is among the lots of people opposed to the development of a large [biofuel](https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/ASX:MBT/Mission-NewEnergy-Ltd) plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.<br> |
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<br>It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird species.<br> |
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<br>Ambitious objectives<br> |
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<br>An Italian business has asked the authorities for approval to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow [jatropha](https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/0cqd_rb), whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.<br> |
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<br>This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The location impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.<br> |
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<br>Kenya [Jatropha](https://www.abnnewswire.net/companies/en/31347/%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A9%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%97-Mission-NewEnergy-%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%94.html/4) Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.<br> |
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<br>It has leased nearly a million hectares in Africa |
