The Judiciary in Thika, Chania High School and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) have embarked on a campaign to plant at least 15,000 trees before the school breaks for the long holiday.
The move is meant to make the town green and to support the government’s plan to plant five billion trees in five years.
The School Principal James Gitau said that over 1300 students will help in planting the trees within the institution and within other government institutes.
“This will make the school and other government institutions in the area green. We shall be planting the trees periodically to conserve the environment,” said Gitau.
Thika Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo said they will be working with various stakeholders in the tree planting exercise in helping achieve the required tree cover.
Meanwhile, Environmentalists from various parts of the country have called on the government to streamline the distribution of seedlings to help them in their plans to plant 10 billion trees in a decade.
They lamented there are many bureaucracies in acquiring seedlings from the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), saying it hindered many people participating in noble causes.
The environmentalists, consisting of various Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) said KFS should also offer training on the best tree species that should be planted in specific parts of the country to help in their survival rates.
Led by the Director of ‘We Don’t Have Time’ NGO Patrick Kiarie, they said county governments should play a lead role in making their counties green and ensure they don’t lag behind in forest cover as the situation currently is.
“There are counties whose forest cover is low and they need to be supported through streamlined distribution of seedlings. KFS should also focus on training the farmers on the various tree species that can do well in their areas so as to improve survival rates,” said Kiarie.
George Njagi, another conservationist said achieving the 10 billion target will not be easy and needs concerted efforts from various stakeholders as well as ensuring that there are enough seedlings.
He said tree seedlings should also be made affordable to bring many in the campaign.
They spoke in Thika during a stakeholders’ consultative meeting where they agreed to help the government in achieving 30 per cent forest cover.
By Muoki Charles
