At least 15,000 tree seedlings will be planted in Makueni County during this rainy season, Makueni County Commissioner (CC) Mr. Henry Wafula has said.
Wafula said this at Makueni Boys High School where he launched the national tree planting where 1,000 tree seedlings were planted by the government officers and wananchi on Thursday.
The administrator called upon the residents to plant trees in their homesteads and ensure the trees are nurtured into maturity in a bid to contribute to the Presidential Directive of planting 15 billion by 2032 in the country.
“Through various stakeholders in Kibwezi, Makindu and a multi-agency approach in government, we are going to plant 15,000 trees across the county,” said Wafula said.
Makueni County Forest Conservator Mr. Martin Mutie said that his officers in Mbooni, Kilungu, Makuli and Kibwezi Forest Stations, and members of public were planting trees in a bid to achieve the target.
He noted that logging has greatly reduced incidences of fires and attributed it to the good relationship with the community that has taken up the protection of the forests as their resource.
“We have formed a network with the community through community forest associations. Logging has reduced greatly and issues of fire incidences have gone down after the community realized the Kenya Forest Service is a custodian and they have taken it upon themselves to protect the forests,” said Mutie.
Those who graced the occasion included departmental heads from both levels of government and teachers among others.
By Patrick Nyakundi
