The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) in conjunction with Baringo county government has planted more than two million tree seedlings, since the Presidential initiative of growing 15 billion trees by 2032 was launched last year.
According to KFS official Hellen Sikuku, the organization has planted one million trees in state woodblocks and other proposed areas and the county government has done another one million spread across communities, public and private institutions.
Speaking during a County Service Delivery Committee meeting chaired by county commissioner Stephen Kutwa at Baringo Central NG-CDF hall on Thursday, the official said planting of the trees will go a long way in the restoration of local deforested and degraded lands.
“We target to plant at least 23 hectares of forest land per year as a county. We target to grow these trees in institutions, forests, communities and private institutions among other areas like protected water catchments and sources,” she disclosed.
The county, Ms Sikuku stated, once they receive 3,900 green army casuals to be recruited soon, they plan to deploy an average of 13 of them to each of the county’s 300 nurseries spread across all the sub counties.
She stated that the green army casuals on one-year contract will help KFS to raise at least one million seedlings per year from each nursery annually.
On the shamba system, the KFS official informed the service delivery meeting that about 5,000 hectares of land within local forests have been allocated to farmers to carry out crop cultivation, especially maize to increase food production.
The farmers living adjacent to the forests, she added, are supposed to grow the maize as they tend the trees until they mature before being moved to another planned site.
Commenting on logging, Ms Sikuku clarified that the limited logging taking place in some selected forest blocks in the region is for harvesting that had been paid for by saw millers before the ban on harvesting of mature trees was enforced in 2018.
However, the official said that the ban on logging will be lifted starting July this year and millers wishing to be considered need to submit their applications.
On roads, Eng. Emmanuel Kipruto from Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) stated that the
By Joshua Kibet
