As various leaders, among them Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries, led residents in tree planting drives, the clarion call was on conservation and management of the environment to mitigate the effects of climate change. Speaking when he led the tree planting campaign at Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Moses Kuria called on all the public servants to rally towards the government’s tree planting agenda, reiterating that the government is committed to ensuring that the 15 billion tree drive is realised. ‘We are responsible for something called performance contracting and delivery management; hence, the target that has been assigned to every department and every ministry comes directly under the purview of my ministry, and we are going to do everything to ensure that everybody, every state department, and every public officer honour this commitment,’ the CS said. Residents of Uasin Gishu turned out in high numbers to participate in the National Tree Growing Exercise at Kaimur Wetland, Timboroa, Kesses Sub County, Uasin Gishu County. The event was done across the county up to the ward level, in which 1,376,660 tree seedlings of both indigenous and exotic tree species were grown. Kuria rallied all Kenyans to get committed to the tree planting call, saying conserving the environment is the key to protecting lives and the future of the coming generations. ‘Kenyans must wake up to the realisation that there is no other world but this, and the environment is the blanket that will protect all of us; hence, we must all come together to ensure that we do what we must do to wrap up this environmental conservation agenda,’ noted Kuria. In Uasin Gishu, the exercise, which was carried out successfully at various identified sites across the county, kicked off concurrently with residents, With the help of various stakeholders like the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), the National Youth Service (NYS), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), KEPHIS, Kenya Prisons, and local political leaders, among others, who provided tree seedlings, they managed to plant a total of 1,376,660 tree seedlings, both indigenous and exotic tree species. Initially, the county had set a target of a million seedlings to be planted on Monday, November 13, and by Sunday, it had received a total of 976,660 seedlings from various stakeholders, including the county government and other government agencies. In her speech at Kaimur Wetland in Timboroa Forest, Kesses Sub County, where 45,000 indigenous and exotic trees were planted, the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, Madam Susan Mang’eni, called on residents and other partners to embrace and invest in tree growing, noting that trees are an easy way of earning income without much struggle. She urged parents to include their children in tree-growing as a way of conserving the environment so that the children may grow up with the knowledge that trees are key components in preserving and protecting the environment. The PS reiterated the need to sensitise and educate the members of the communities living in forest areas on the best way to live with the trees through taking care of, protecting, and conserving trees. Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Chelilim affirmed his administration’s commitment to work closely with the national government to make sure the presidential directive to plant 15 billion trees is realised.
Source: Kenya News Agency