Kisumu County Government on Thursday joined the rest of the world to celebrate Earth Day by planting trees to help increase forest cover as well as conserve the environment.
The Chief Officer for Environment and Natural Services Ms Maryline Agwa who graced the occasion, urged residents from Nyando Sub County – a low lying region that is prone to floods to prioritize planting trees especially during this rainy season as a long term remedy to deaths and displacement caused by flooding in the area.
“I urge all to take advantage of the ongoing rains to plant trees. We can never have enough trees. We need the trees for soil conservation, to protect water catchment areas and to control floods. Let us all play our role to restore the earth,” Ms Agwa said.
Earth Day is a momentous day usually observed every year on 22nd April. During this day, many important environmental events that aims on restoring the earth takes center stage across the world.
This years’ theme was “Restore Our Earth” with a focus on natural processes and emerging green technologies that can restore the ecosystems.
Ms Agwa together with the County officials, a team from the Rovers Scouts Kenya and the community members in marked this years’ event by planting more than 1000 tree seedlings at the Nyando Technical Training Institute, (TTI) grounds.
Nyando TTI Principal Mr Peter Omondi commended the community for coming out in large numbers to take part in the tree planting activity terming it as a clear demonstration of their support for environmental protection.
“We have planted more than one thousand seedlings of different varieties as a show of our commitment towards environmental conservation,” says Ms Agwa. Adding that the planting trees in Nyando was of great significance because it is an area prone to floods.
Forests cover helps in reducing carbon footprint and the effects of global warming that has become a menace in many countries around the globe.
According to Self Help Africa, a Non-Governmental Organization that focuses on the environment opines that each tree planted, once mature, will remove approximately 25kg of carbon from the atmosphere every year.
By Robert Ojwang’
