Day: July 24, 2023

The Muthaiga North Rotary Club has adopted a digital tree planting programme that uses digital mapping to track, monitor, and manage the tree’s progress.

The Rotarians who planted over 1000 trees in Kereita Forest last week during their annual initiative towards environmental conservation, promised to plant another 15,000 trees, which will be mapped via the digital forest tracking Application before the year ends.

The application enables the naming of the trees and their monitoring for over 3 years to ensure they are growing into maturity.

According to the governor of Rotary District 9212, Leonard Ithau, who launched the digital forest initiative, more Rotary clubs in the region, including Thika Road, Samawati, and Embakasi, have also joined them in restoring more forest cover.

‘As Rotary clubs around the country, we have all agreed to plant 1 trillion trees without encroaching on agricultural land. This means Muthaiga Rotary Club alone will plant about 15,000 trees per year in the next 3 years,’ he said.

Ithau added that the Muthaiga Rotary Club has over 4,000 members who have agreed to increase their contributions towards the tree planting initiative by giving even three times what they have been donating previously.

‘We understand that this is not a one-day event or a function for one acre or two acres of land; it’s an initiative that will take years, but we are determined to attain our mission,’ Ithau said.

On his part, the President of Muthaiga North Rotary Club, Manasses Mwangi, said plans were underway to adopt a section of Thogoto Forest, Kibiku Forest, Kereita Forest, Wundanyi Forest, and Taveta Forest and plant targeted trees, which will popularise the initiative in Rotary Clubs around Nairobi and open up opportunities for partnerships.

‘The climax of this project shall be a mega tree planting exercise in Taita Taveta County. We aim to bring together 20 Rotary clubs and plant over 5,000 trees using the digital tree planting app on this year’s Mashujaa Day weekend,’ he said.

Mwangi said that they are planning to adopt a section of forests like Kereita, which are major water towers in the country, and the adopted portion will be clearly marked by GPRS coordinates, then a distinctive live tree will be planted to mark the physical beacon on the ground.

‘The objective is to reforest the water towers to improve water quantity. We have adopted 7.5 ha of Kereita forest, which is a vital ecosystem as it is the source of the Gatamaiyu River, a major tributary of the Ruiru River that feeds Ruiru Dam, a major source of water for Nairobi County that benefits over 1,000,000 people,’ Mwangi said.

He noted that, with the help of the digital app, the Rotarians will adopt trees and tend them for at least 3 years to ensure they survive.

‘We have also encouraged members to plant trees even at their farms and map the trees on the digital app, as we are here to encourage trees’ care throughout their maturity,’ he said.

Arthur Kinyanjui, a Rotarian, said that digitising the tree planting exercise will revolutionise how they are going to plant trees going forward.

‘Our club has been involved in several tree planting activities, but we have not been able to track or know what happens to those trees after we plant them. The digital tree planting app will therefore help us keep track of the trees even in years to come,’ Kinyanjui said.

The digital tree application can also capture the height of the tree, the diameter, the location, and the person who planted the tree.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Seychelles has commenced a four-day civilian roster verification and recruitment exercise as a member of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF).

The aim of the exercise is to re-register civilians who have already participated in EASF capacity building exercises in the past. As a member of EASF, Seychelles benefits from training that is for military and police officers as well as civilians.

The chief executive of Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (CEPS), Alvin Laurence, shared that participants will be interviewed during the week as well.

“They will receive capacity-building training to ensure they are at par, understand what is happening in the region as well as to understand their availability and capacity to respond,” said Laurence.

Even if citizens do not have the military or police background they are trained and prepared in case of an emergency in the region. This can be a conflict where you have to intervene on a humanitarian basis.

“Our people are trained to know how to react and at CEPS we mobilise people to participate,” said Laurence.

He also explained that when there were Somalian pirates in Seychelles’ waters, “these people didn’t just want to come onto our waters and attack vessels. It was due to economic instabilities in their country and this was a way to survive. Ensuring that there is stability in the region offers our country and the tourism industry great protection.”

Every year, EASF conducts this exercise in member states and this year it is the turn of Rwanda, Seychelles and Somalia.

The rostering and verification exercise plays a crucial role in ensuring the effectiveness and readiness of the EASF in carrying out its peacekeeping missions

The opening ceremony provided an opportunity for high-level officials, military personnel, diplomats, and experts from Eastern African countries to gather, exchange ideas, and foster collaboration toward a more secure and stable region.

EASF is one of five components of the Africa Standby Forces and comprises Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.

Established in 2004, EASF was created as regional mechanism to provide the capability for rapid deployment of forces to carry out preventative deployment comma rapid intervention comma please support operations comma and peace enforcement.

Source: Seychelles News Agency