Miners in Migori County have been challenged to help restore the environment they have long depended on for their livelihoods by planting trees.
This comes at a time when abandoned mining pits scar the landscape, open trenches threaten lives, and rainwater threatens to spread toxic chemicals into surrounding communities.
Officials from the State Department of Mining and the forestry sector made the call during a tree-planting exercise at Ombo Forest in Migori town, an exercise aimed at reclaiming degraded land and promoting safer mining practices.
State Department of Mining official Tracy Kinge urged artisanal and small-scale miners to embrace tree planting as a practical step towards rehabilitating mining sites and protecting communities from environmental hazards.
“Prevention is better than cure. Planting trees in degraded mining areas will help protect lives,” Ms Kinge said.
Kinge said the initiative would be a key feature of this year's Mazingira Day celebrations, marked every October 10, under the theme, “Mine-Site Restoration to Make the Degraded Mining Sites a Safe Space for All.”
She noted that the department had embarked on awareness campaigns and public barazas across mining sites in Migori to educate miners on environmental conservation and the need to restore land damaged by mining activities.
“Conserving our environment is a collective responsibility,” Kinge said.
She stressed the importance of miners uniting in protecting their working environments and ensuring that abandoned sites do not become death traps for residents and livestock.
Across Migori, gold mining has provided livelihoods for many households, but poorly managed mining operations have left behind open pits and trenches that pose serious risks to nearby communities.
The danger becomes more pronounced during the rainy season, when abandoned excavations fill with water and can contribute to flooding and deaths.
Contaminated runoff may also carry hazardous substances, including mercury used in gold extraction, into nearby land and water sources.
Kinge said targeting mining areas for rehabilitation would help restore damaged landscapes while reducing the dangers associated with unattended pits and ditches.
Migori County Forest Officer John Mbori said the week-long tree-planting campaign would see teams from the forestry and mining departments target at least 4,000 trees on four acres of Ombo Forest.
The exercise is part of broader efforts to increase the county's forest cover, which Mbori said currently stands at just two per cent, far below the internationally recommended minimum of 10 per cent.
He added that the campaign would extend beyond Ombo Forest to gazetted forests and degraded mining sites across the county, with the aim of strengthening environmental protection and improving resilience to climate change.
Mbori said plans were also underway to plant trees on at least 10 hectares of Otacho Forest, a gazetted forest covering 116 hectares in Awendo Sub-County, during Mazingira Day.
“With the help of county institutions and residents, we hope to achieve the set target and improve climate change mitigation,” he said.
Mbori stated that restoring the land ravaged by mining should not merely be about growing trees but about protecting lives, safeguarding livelihoods and ensuring that the search for precious minerals does not leave future generations with a poisoned and dangerous landscape.
