Written By Vanessa Kariuki || The First Lady Mama Rachael Ruto, has adopted 200HA of the degraded Kakamega Forest for restoration.
Through her environmental and climate change initiative, she was joined by Hon. Soipan Tuya, Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry, Mr. John Ondego, KakamegaCounty Commissioner, Mr. Julius Kamau, and others.
She quoted a Chinese proverb saying ‘ The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.’
“The world isn’t an inheritance from our fore bearers but a gift we pass to our children. Let us wrap it in the green of trees and the serenity of nature as we aim to plant 10 billion trees by 2032,” said the First Lady.
She added, “I have taken up the call on the week of my birthday to join in after His Excellency President William pronounced himself on the issue of tree planting and set a target of 5 billion trees in the next 5 years, and 10 billion trees by 2032.”
According to Rachel, the adoption and tree-planting initiative aims to restore Kakamega Forest, the only tropical rain forest in our nation and one of the most important water catchment systems.
The Adopt-A-Forest program aims to spread awareness of environmental preservation, provide protection, and increase the amount of forest cover by deterring destruction.
According to CS Soipan, the Kenya Forest Service is currently in charge of managing roughly 1.7 million hectares of community forests that are not part of the country’s 2.6 million gazetted public forests.
“The President has set a target of achieving 30% tree cover by 2032. This entails planting and growing 5 Billion trees in the next five years and an additional 10 Billion trees by 2032. The result will be 10.6 Million Hectares,” said Soipan.
“President William Ruto has made great strides in underscoring the importance of forests in regulating & stabilizing global climate & made significant commitments towards halting & reversing deforestation & land degradation in Kenya,” she added.
She continued by saying that in order to reach the milestone, participatory forest management would be necessary, as well as the involvement of county governments and local communities, as well as the promotion of private sector involvement in reforestation partnerships and the streamlining of forestry volunteer activities.
