Anglican Church launches 'One Student, One Tree' campaign

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya Rt Rev Dr Jackson Ole Sapit with bishops and the clergy from East Africa and across the country during the opening of a three days seminar on safe spaces for christian communities. May 1, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The Anglican Church of Kenya has launched a countrywide tree-planting campaign dubbed "One Student, One Tree" that will involve all the schools sponsored by the church.

The church, according to Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit, will utilise the students to plant 15 million trees by the close of the campaign.

Ole Sapit said the activity has been bolstered by partners including Equity and DTB banks.

"We want to establish a movement called the Green Anglican Movement, and we have partners on board this initiative that targets planting 15 million trees. We target all our learners in Anglican-sponsored schools to help us realise this dream.

"We shall as well mobilise our Christians to plant trees in the Green Anglican Movement," he said.

He said they are welcoming other churches to get on board and help plant trees as partners of the campaign.

"God has created this universe, and his intentions were that all of creation work together. Some creations, like the trees, are on the earth; we have other creations in the air, including the oxygen that we breathe, which is purified by the trees as they suck in carbon. We have others up there like the lightning and clouds; they all work to make this world a better place," Sapit said.

It is sad that man, the superior being in the world and the universe, has, in his lack of wisdom, destroyed trees that are otherwise life-supporting, noting that man has depleted forest cover by cutting down trees for charcoal burning, looking for firewood, and in a bid to create other uses.

"We have continuously and steadily destroyed trees, depleting forest cover to under 10 per cent. It is trees and other plantations that give us tubers that we eat; some give us fruits, which supply our bodies with vitamins. Trees give us shade that we enjoy. In short, trees are our everything. It is regrettable that man, who should be the steward and manager of the universe, has turned against trees, and this has greatly impacted the world order negatively," Ole Sapit said.

Susan Kariuki, Limuru Girls chief principal -where the campaign kicked off and being an Anglican Church sponsored school - said that the school community was elated to be the place where the One Student, One Tree campaign began.

The principal noted that the school was the nucleus of the campaign and, as such, they will set a good pace and precedent for the campaign.