State to designate special working day for tree planting

President William Ruto's Cabinet on Friday agreed to designate a special working day for tree planting.

The move is in line with the recognition of the effects of climate change and in compliance with the 15 billion tree pledge.

"This aligns with the Government's National Tree Planting Campaign under the Presidential Programme for the Accelerated Restoration of Forests and Rangelands," a statement from Cabinet read.

Each Cabinet Secretary will be tasked with adopting at least two counties and providing leadership in the initiative.

The Cabinet said the initiative is aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions and restoring forest cover.

Ruto has continuously urged Kenyans to support his agenda of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.

He said that his administration will ensure the agenda is fully implemented.

This is even as the government plans to distribute tree seedlings through chiefs to accelerate tree-growing activities across the country.

The aggressive tree-planting campaign is aimed at increasing the country's e forest cover by five billion trees.

The government has also set a national target of planting 500 million trees across the country by December 25.

Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya announced said this will be achieved through the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Programme (NLERP) aimed at realising 15 billion trees by 2032.

“We are hoping that the short rains will come in a consistent version as we go towards realising this target,” Tuya said in a press briefing.

The interventions for the 15 billion trees, she said, have been divided into both ecosystem and intervention areas.

She said green spaces and urban areas which include Karura, City Park and Arboretum in Nairobi are some of the intervention areas targeted “because of the way they help to deal with pollution in our City”.

Tuya stated that the short rains plan will cover all parts of the country and take a whole government and societal approach.