Take State's call seriously and plant trees today

Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki last week designated today a public holiday specifically to plant trees. At a time when the world is threatened by the vagaries of climate change, this is a noble initiative that we all must take seriously.

The United Nations recommends that a country's tree cover should, on the lower side, be 10 per cent of the land surface area. Estimates put Kenya's forest cover at about six per cent of the land areas, which is way much below international standards, hence the need to increase the cover. Our receding tree cover has resulted in rivers drying up, negative effects on our biodiversity and a reduced carbon sink, leading to global warming.

An estimated 107,000 hectares of forest, about 25 per cent of the Mau Forest, have been destroyed in the past 20 years. Moreover, demand for agricultural expansion, human settlements and infrastructure development threatens our tree cover and forests.

With this knowledge, it is incumbent upon every Kenyan of goodwill to at least plant a tree today. Understandably, there is a shortage of tree seedlings because the government has not provided much, if any, and worse, ambushed Kenyans with this plan. The government should have prepared Kenyans much earlier and set up tree seedling nurseries across the country to facilitate today's exercise.

That is not to say that Kenyans should not get seedlings from individuals who grow them as a business. It is our responsibility to make our country better at whatever price. Yet, even as we plant trees today, it should not be lost on us that planting only marks the beginning of a long process until the tree matures. That demands that for each tree planted, there must be deliberate efforts to water the seedling until it stabilises and starts to blossom.

The results of today's exercise will not be evident in the short term, but we can rest assured that in years to come, we will look back and congratulate ourselves for having had the foresight to save our environment from serious destruction that endangers mankind through reduced food production, drought, hurricanes and all other furies of Mother Nature.