Equity Bank, Murang’a branch has joined efforts with the Catholic Diocese of Murang’a to conserve the environment through tree planting.
The bank has donated to the church more than 10, 000 seedlings to plant in parcels of land owned by the diocese during the ongoing short rains.
Bishop James Wainaina has lauded the move saying it contributes hugely in conserving the environment which in the recent past has been degraded due to cutting of trees.
During an exercise of planting trees in a land owned by the diocese in Maragua, Wainaina promised to mobilise Christians to put effort in planting trees not only at church compounds but also in their farms.
“The Catholic Church is in the forefront of conserving our environment. God gave us the gift of a good environment. We have a responsibility to plant trees and avoid human activities which destroy our surroundings,” stated the Bishop through a speech which was read by Father Herman Kihuha.
Wainaina encouraged Christians to consider planting more fruit trees noting that they have more benefits.
“Trees like avocado, macadamia among others are also a source of income as people can sell the fruits to get money,” he observed.
In the partnership, the church will get seedlings from Equity Bank and plant in church compounds and at learning and health institutions owned by the diocese.
Speaking during the same occasion, the Bank branch manager Benson Mbugua highlighted that they have been championing tree plantings by partnering with their customers.
Mbugua said since they started the exercise few years ago, they have donated more than nine million seedlings to schools and organizations drawn from various parts of the country.
“In Murang’a County, the bank has so far sponsored planting of more than a million seedlings. The trees are being planted by various learning institutions and some private companies,” he stated.
Mbugua said last rainy season, the exercise faced challenges due to poor rains observing that they managed to plant 600, 000 seedlings.
“We want to take advantage of the short rains and support the planting of millions of seedlings. We thank the Catholic church for joining us in this noble exercise and we assure the bishop we will walk together in the efforts of conserving our environment,” remarked Mbugua.
By Bernard Munyao
