Government Principal Secretaries step out for tree planting exercise

Mr Wanyama Musiambo Deputy Head of Public Sevice and Julius Kamau, Chief Conservator of Forests

Senior state officials on Wednesday officiated tree-planting exercise in Kajiado County in a move aimed at boosting Kenya’s forest cover.

Kenya Forest Service hosted Deputy Head of Public Service Wanyama Musiambo together with Principal Secretaries Joseph Njoroge (Ministry of Energy), and Saitoti Torome (State Department of Planning) for a tree-planting activity at Ngong Hills Forest, Kajiado County where 3,000 indigenous trees were planted.

The three Senior Government Officials are part of a larger delegation of PSs hosted by the Service for tree planting activities in various forest stations within the Nairobi Conservancy.

Speaking during the tree planting, Mr. Wanyama Musiambo urged members of the public to appreciate the role forests play by planting more trees during the current long rains to boost the forest cover to 10 percent by 2022.

He added that the forests are of value to human livelihood in the mitigation of climate adversities such as floods and landslides currently experienced.

The Chief Conservator of Forest Julius Kamau noted the importance of Ng'ong forest as a water catchment area and also for its economic value with regards to energy production for the country, as well as it's recreational and eco-tourism potential hence the need to conserve and protect the resource through fencing.

He also called for more joint collaboration between Government and other non-state actors to partner with the Service for a sustained course towards the Nation's forestry agenda of rehabilitating forests and restoring degraded public land. In addition, the CCF urged farmers to plant more trees in the farmlands and that way boosts the drive towards achieving 10 per cent tree cover by 2022.

The Principal Secretaries present observed the importance of Government Agencies partnering with the Environment and Forestry Ministry through Kenya Forest Service to grow more trees and protect forests which play a vital role in the country's renewable energy sources and thus ensure the sustainability of energy.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Forest Service Board Vice Chairman Peter Wandera led a tree planting exercise at Mumbaka, Port Victoria Forest Station in Busia County where a total of 6,015 tree seedlings were planted at the site.

Speaking after the exercise, Mr. Wandera assured of continuous tree planting activities in the region during this long rains season. He urged the forest adjacent Communities to continue supporting KFS and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry's efforts in the endeavour to raise the country's tree cover to 10 per cent by the year 2022.

He also reiterated the importance of following the Ministry of Health guidelines on #Covid_19 during the tree planting sessions.