Written By Vanessa Kariuki ||
Every year on March 21, people around the world commemorate “International Day of Forests” to raise awareness about the value of forests and to appreciate them.
Forests, which act as the world’s lungs, clean the air we breathe, filter out impurities from water, and purify it.
The day serves as a reminder of the critical role that forests play in our daily lives because they serve as both a haven for wildlife of all kinds and a source of food for people all over the world.
The Collaborative Partnership on Forests decides on the annual theme, For 2023, “Forests and health” will be the topic of the International Day of Forests.
The association between woods and health is emphasized by this year’s topic.
According to the UN, forests have a significant positive impact on a person’s health, including preventing climate change, supplying food and life-saving medications, enhancing wellbeing, and purifying the air, water, and carbon emissions.
In order to commemorate this day, CS Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Soipan Tuya, has advised Kenyans to plant trees in their various counties, communities, schools, farms, and, if feasible, houses.
“Kenya is on track to increasing its tree cover by growing 15 billion trees in the next ten years which means that each one of us plant at least 300 trees annually,” said the CS.
She added, “I welcome you all to celebrate thus day, ‘tuunganepamoja wakubwa kwa wadogo tujaze miti tulinde afya yetu, tulinde mazingira yetu’.”
The goal by the Ministry of Environment this year is to plant 60 million trees in 60 days, and Kenyans have been urged to band together and plant 1 million trees every day during this rainy season.
