Public officers and other stakeholders in climate change campaign in Kitui County have been urged to embark on massive planting of trees to effectively fight hazards of climate change in the county.
Kitui Central Deputy County Commissioner Dorcas Rono called for concerted efforts by the government departments, local environmentalists, residents and other stakeholders to champion massive trees planting so as to attain the required percentage of forest cover.
Rono was speaking while presiding over official opening of a two-day climate change forum being held in Kitui town, organized by Resource Conflict (Reconcile), a non-governmental organization operating the area.
The climate change forum drew participants from relevant local departments from national and county government, local environmentalists, individuals and other stakeholders involved in fight against negative effects of climate change.
The Deputy County Commissioner observed that it’s very important for the participants attending the meeting to embark on massive campaigns to ensure that local residents plant trees in line with the government policy of planting five billion trees in five years to contain climate change.
“Negative effects of climate change are here with us, and you need to use all means to persuade the people to become actively involved in the fight against hazards of climate change such as shortage of rains and excess global heating,” Rono advised the participants.
The Deputy County Commissioner regretted that 23 counties across the country have been facing acute food and water shortages due to the negative effects of climate change, resulting to famine and lack of pasture, causing massive livestock deaths in the affected regions.
She said that due to the climate change, Kitui County has been experiencing prolonged drought as a result of failure of rains for the last four rainy seasons.
Rono further called for eradication of destructive environmental activities that impacted negatively to climate change such as destruction of trees for charcoal production, uncontrolled sand harvesting at local rivers, industrial environmental pollution and deforestation among others.
By Denson Mututo
