In his 15 years defending Ngong Forest Sanctuary, one of Nairobi's last green spaces, Simon Nganga has seen off brazen attempts to seize what's left of the lush forest bordered by highways and housing estates. Persistent efforts by developers and powerful individuals to seize chunks of the bush as their own were defeated under historic laws enacted to protect Kenya's dwindling forests from unchecked logging and environmental destruction. But a proposal expected before parliament on Thursday seeks a major change to these protections, by allowing politicians to determine if public forest can be carved out and handed over to private interests, which Nganga likens to the opening of 'Pandora's Box' and which he believes will lead to the destruction of this vital green space. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES