Residents in West Pokot County have been urged to download the JazaMiti application on their smartphones to enable them to know the number of trees planted, the type of trees planted, and the locations where they have planted them.
Speaking to the press at the Chewoyet primary and junior secondary school in Kapenguria town, West Pokot sub-county Assistant County Commissioner Ms. Ruth Wachera urged the locals to download the Jaza Miti mobile phone application to monitor their contribution towards effort to combat climate change by increasing the forest cover.
“The essence of planting trees is to contribute to the 15 billion tree clarion call by President Dr. William Ruto,” ACC Ms. Wachera said.
According to Ms. Wachera, the Jaza Miti application is useful because it helps users select the appropriate tree species to plant based on their particular location.
She urged the residents to use the Jaza Miti application because it would enable them to keep track of every tree they had planted in their neighbourhood and would also provide countrywide statistics on how many trees had been planted in an effort aimed at planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
She encouraged the residents that upon planting a tree, they should feed the details of each tree they plant into the Jaza Miti app so that the number of trees planted, the kinds of trees planted, and the locations where they were planted can be recorded and made available in real time.
Ms. Wachera urged the pupils at the school’s tree planting exercise to support their parents’ efforts to actively engage in tree growing at home.
She asked to plant fruit trees in their school’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre, creating a school orchard that will boost forest cover and improve nutrition.
She urged the students to take care of the trees that had been planted during their academic careers.
Elvis Wafula, the Huduma Centre manager, said what motivated them to plant trees was the need to conserve the environment and take care of the environment to ensure that the county achieved the percentage of tree cover.
Mr. Wafula urged the students and teachers to take up personal responsibility for planting the tree, which will help combat the effects of climate change and create an attractive environment.
“They say the tree or the environment that is taking care of us today is courtesy of the people who planted trees years and years ago, so it is our responsibility to plant trees today and conserve our environment today for the future of the young children that we have interacted with in school to ensure that when their time comes they will find a conducive environment to function in,” the Huduma centre manager, Mr. Wafula, said.
Charles Lomukereng, the head teacher of Chewoyet primary and junior secondary schools, thanked the staff at the county commissioner’s office and the Huduma Centre for caring about the school’s environment by donating 500 trees for planting in an effort to boost the forest cover.
The tree will change the image of the school through its good shade while also contributing to a conducive learning environment.
A total of 500 trees were planted at the Chewoyet primary and junior secondary schools.
By Anthony Melly
