Kisii University has planted 3000 tree seedlings at Nyosia farm in Kisii Central Sub-County as part of the institution’s efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The exercise was done in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), National Research Fund (NRF), National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) and AAR Hospital.
Speaking during the event, Kisii University Vice Chancellor Professor Nathan Ogechi said they are committed to promoting environmental sustainability and addressing climate change matters.
He noted that since the launch of the 15 billion trees campaign by President William Ruto, the University has planted over 16,000 tree seedlings in the university and within farms belonging to the surrounding communities.
“Fostering a clean and healthy environment remains our main concern by ensuring we make the world a better place to live in, and we can only achieve this when we work in unity,” said Prof. Ogechi.
The VC encouraged the teaching staff to engage the students in expressing their potential skills by conducting research related to environment change.
National Research Fund (NRF) Chairperson Prof. Ratemo Michieka, who graced the occasion, urged the students to prioritize the environment issues by practicing re-afforestation and restoring previously existing forest that have been destroyed.
“Let us not just plant trees and abandon them, but instead let us take good care of them. It will be a great waste if we plant over 3,000 seedlings today and only 100 seedlings grow to maturity because we did not nurture them,” noted Prof. Michieka.
On his part, Joel Ongoto from UNESCO affirmed that they were ready to support the National Government’s agenda of planting 15 billion trees as part of restoring the environment back to its normal state.
By Linet Akinyi
