The Media Council of Kenya (MCK), Meru Press Club (MPC), and Meru Conservation Office launched an environmental conservation initiative that will focus on planting fruit trees in various primary schools within the county.
Speaking during the launch of the exercise at Meru Primary School, MCK Mount Kenya Region Coordinator Jackson Karanja said after Meru Primary, they will move to St. Paul Academy and Meru Muslim Primary School before proceeding to other schools.
“We had a climate summit in Nairobi the other day, and as a council, we are partnering with these groups to plant at least 500 fruit trees in each school, including avocados, oranges, and lemons, which will be ready in the next two years and will be consumed by the learners,” said Mr. Karanja.
Karanja added that journalists also have a responsibility to conserve the environment by planting trees, bearing in mind that they will help in environmental conservation and also as a way of heeding President William Ruto’s directive on planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
“We have taken in the directive as a council, and we are also trying to take part in the environmental conservation initiative, remembering that when we conserve our environment, it will not only help us but also the generations to come.”
“We are also doing this to set an example to other journalists and members of society out there to follow suit and take environmental conservation as their prerogative,” said Karanja.
He said they have agreed with specific school headteachers that the learners will take part in nurturing the trees, which is also a way of instilling a culture of environmental conservation in them.
“Our call to the residents is that we should give environmental conservation a priority, and planting trees is the first step. We should also ensure the programme is sustainable by nurturing the said trees to maturity,” said Karanja.
Meru Primary School Headteacher Eva Gichuru expressed her gratitude for hosting the Media MCK in her school and especially for partnering with the school in planting trees to at least meet the President’s target by 2032.
Considering we are in a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) era, said Ms. Gichuru, each pupil will be allocated a tree to take care of, and we also want our children to grow up with the idea of conservation.
She said the school had enough water and promised that the trees would never dry up.
“I urge other organisations to come up with such initiatives so that at least we can meet the said target,” said Ms. Gichuru.
Meru Press Club Secretary Antony Miriti thanked the council for engaging them in the noble activity that will play a key role in ensuring that there is a conducive environment for everyone to live in.
Miriti also called on other journalists to take this as their responsibility and focus on environmental conservation issues, especially in their daily reporting.
“We should also warn members of the public against planting trees that compromise water levels and instead encourage them to stick to indigenous trees,” said Mr. Miriti.
By Dickson Mwiti
