The Nakuru County government has set a target of planting 10 million trees by the year 2025 in different parts of the county, including schools, along highways, and city streets.
The City Planner, Macharia Thang’wa, said they are working in collaboration with the Global Climate Change Group, and the Boda Boda riders have joined the exercise in their collective effort to conserve the environment.
Speaking today while conducting the tree planting, he said the planning committee has an unwavering commitment to steering the movement in the entire county and turning it green. They were joined by Mama Ngina, Koinange Primary Schools, and Kenyatta Secondary School, where they planted 650 assorted seedlings.
He noted that Nakuru City has the advantage of schools with large compounds, and if each and every school was to endeavor to plant a minimum of 100 trees along the edges, the goal would be achieved faster.
Thang’wa added that despite the scarcity of water, the county would enable the schools to harvest rainwater to ensure that the tree seedlings are watered to maturity, hence reducing the number of drying seedlings.
He observed that the jacaranda trees that were planted along the streets of Nakuru city by settlers have served it well, but the expansion to other outskirts, such as Mwariki and Pipeline, are still bare.
However, the planner said that since the city is known as a dusty area, it would do property owners and homeowners good if they planted at least ten to twenty trees around their premises.
He commended the late Kariuki Chotara, a former Naivasha councilor, for the trees planted along the Naivasha-Gilgil highway, that have been appreciated to date, therefore immortalizing his name.
Also, he said trees planted along roads act as a safeguard and safety measure for residents because they consume the carbon emitted from vehicles before it reaches them.
By Veronica Bosibori and Moses Mbaru
