Here is where you will plant trees on Monday
As the country prepares to mark its first nationwide tree planting day which is part of the country’s ambitious plan to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 the Ministry of Environment has released a list of designated areas in all 47 counties where the exercise will take place on Monday.
President William Ruto is expected to launch the National Tree Growing Day at Kiu Wetland in Makindu, Makueni on Monday November 13, 2023.
In a statement, Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya said that at the county level, tree-planting activities will be led by Cabinet Secretaries, each of whom will champion tree planting activities in at least two counties.
CS Tuya said there are 150 million plantable seedlings in the nurseries of the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and Kenya Forest Services (KFS) across the country, as well as in the nurseries of other government ministries, departments and agencies.
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“In addition, there are millions of seedlings in private nurseries run by women and youth groups in Community Forest Associations and Community-Based Organisations across the country that are available for a fee,” said CS Tuya.
She urged Kenyans to take time out from their private commitments on Monday to participate in the tree planting exercise.
“I know being a public a holiday, many of us will take advantage of the break to attend to other private and social obligations, but for the sake of the wellbeing of our environment and for mother nature, and as a call to national duty, I urge all of us to honour the National Tree Growing Day,” she added.
The government declared that Monday to be a “special holiday” in which people nationwide will be expected to plant trees to help with the country’s land restoration efforts.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki, made the announcement in a post on X on Monday in which he wrote, “the public across the Country shall be expected to plant trees as a patriotic contribution to the national efforts to save our Country from the devastating effects of Climate Change.”
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Posting an official notice declaring November 13, 2023, to be National Tree Growing Day, Kindiki added that those with national exams that day “shall proceed normally.”
The exercise will form part of Kenya’s Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Programme, which aims to grow and nurture 15 billion trees by 2032 to restore and conserve 10.6 million hectares of degraded landscapes and ecosystems, according to the notice.
There will be a national venue and 47 county venues dedicated to the tree planting, “where all Kenyan citizens and the general public will be expected to participate,” the notice said.
“This aligns with the Government’s National Tree Planting Campaign under the Presidential Programme for the Accelerated Restoration of Forests and Rangelands,” a statement from Cabinet reads.
Kenya’s current forest cover currently stands at about 7% but the government has set aside more than $80 million this financial year, as it bids to increase tree cover to more than 10%.
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