Written By Vanessa Kariuki ||
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Environment and Land Court planted trees in wetlands and catchment areas and educated the general public about the value of environmental preservation.
The message of conservation was spread by judicial representatives, who were joined by representatives from the County Government, led by Deputy Governor Mutuma M’Ethingia, and other national government departments. Their work culminated in a public address at Gakoromone market.
At the start of the activity, Kenya Forest Services donated seedlings from around 15 different tree species.
The effort, according to Environment and Lands Court Presiding Judge Justice Charles Yano, was a stark demonstration that the court was not only handling the cases that were presented before it, but also had a responsibility to safeguard the environment.
“We will not sit in courts to wait for a case so we can make determinations but we have also decided that we will be going out there and engaging in initiatives to protect our environment,” said Yano.
In order to ensure that the entire county was taken care of, Justice CK Nzili of the same court indicated that moving forward, the same activities will be extended to other places outside of Meru town.
He issued a warning to locals not to develop or engage in farming on riparian or wet lands, adding that they would be severe with offenders if such a case came before them.
On Saturday morning, more trees were planted as part of a campaign sponsored by the Thika Chief Magistrate’s Court and other interested parties.
The initiative was announced at the same time that President William Ruto set a goal of planting 5 billion trees to fight climate change. According to the Head of State, the initiative will help fight the devastating drought that has put many lives in danger.
