About 150, 000 tree seedlings were planted in various parts of Narok County during the National Tree Planting Holiday Monday.
Narok County Governor Patrick Ntutu said 46, 000 tree seedlings were planted at Enosupukia Forest in Narok East Sub County, where the county event was held, while the other seedlings were planted in the other seven sub-counties.
Ntutu said the county targets to plant over 4.3 million tree seedlings in the next three months before the ongoing El Nino rains subside.
The governor asked all Narok residents to plant at least 300 tree seedlings in their farms to achieve the 15 billion tree cover that the government aims to achieve by 2032.
“I have personally planted over 500 tree seedlings. I want every person to engage in this exercise so that we can increase the forest cover and conserve the environment,” said Governor Ntutu.
The governor committed to fencing the Enosupukia forest in a bid to keep off any human activities on the forest land so that the seedlings can flourish.
At the same time, he said, the county government will fence all primary schools in the county so that the seedlings planted there can grow.
“One of the ways of achieving our target is by fencing our primary schools so that the seedlings planted can grow. We are confident we will achieve our target,” he said.
Principal Secretary for Investment and Trade Abubakar Hassan, who represented Cabinet Secretary for Investment and Trade Rebecca Miano, asked residents to grow trees in large numbers to improve their livelihood.
“Without trees, our livelihood is threatened. We came to urge you to plant trees in your farms so that we can conserve our environment,” he said.
The Maasai Mara Vice-Chancellor Professor Peninah Aloo thanked President William Ruto for dedicating the day to planting trees, saying she is an ecologist and she understands the importance of planting trees.
She reiterated that the university will work with the county government to help in planting tree seedlings in 100 primary schools in the county.
“We commit to planting and tendering 100 tree seedlings in 100 primary schools in this county. This is going to boost forest cover as we teach our children the need for conservation,” she said.
Others who attended the event included Narok East Member of Parliament Ken Kiloku, Narok County MP Rebecca Tonkei, Narok County Assembly Speaker Davis Dikirr, and Narok Deputy Governor Tamalinye Koech, among others.
Various organisations, including the Kenya Revenue Authority, Equity Bank, Kenya Forest Service, and Ewaso Nyiro South Development Agency (ENSDA), donated seedlings.
By Ann Salaton
