Murang'a postpones tree-planting exercise over failed rains

Communities in Murang'a are educated on the importance of tree-planting. [Boniface Gikandi, Standard]

Murang’a County has postponed its planned tree-planting exercise after a lack of rainfall raised concerns about the survival of seedlings.

The exercise, which was expected to involve more than 6,700 people planting 250,000 seedlings within an hour, was called off at the last minute due to unfavourable weather conditions.

Organisers notified the public that the exercise had been postponed to a later date.

Murang’a Kenya Forest Conservator Eunice Njoroge confirmed that the designated planting sites had not received rain, making it difficult to ensure the seedlings would survive.

“We found it wise to postpone the exercise to a later date when the sites will have received enough rain to ensure the survival of the seedlings,” Njoroge said.

A visit to the Del Monte and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) lands in Gatanga Sub-County, where the seedlings were to be planted across 97 acres, showed that preparations for the exercise had been completed.

Despite the postponement, residents are marking  Mazingira Day by cleaning their towns and planting trees in their local communities.