- Korir said growing trees in private farms will boost the country's green cover.
- The Agriculture (Farm Forestry) Rules 2009 urge farmers to promote and maintain farm forest cover of at least 10 per cent.
Image: Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry/X
The government has been urged to promote tree planting in private farms in the national afforestation campaign.
World Wide Fund for Nature national forest programme coordinator Elijah Korir said growing trees in private farms will boost the country's green cover.
“Forests are getting full. Let us plant trees in our farms,” Korir said during signing of the Participatory Forest Management Plan for Loitoktok Community Forest Association.
The plan provides a management framework for the forest ecosystem and improvement of livelihoods of forest-adjacent communities.
The Agriculture (Farm Forestry) Rules 2009 urge farmers to promote and maintain farm forest cover of at least 10 per cent of every agricultural land holding and to preserve the environment to combat climate change and global warming.
Tree species farmers can plant should not have adverse effects on water sources, crops, livestock, soil fertility and the neighbourhoods and must not be invasive.
The draft Forest Policy 2020 recognises that the state cannot achieve 10 per cent tree cover by focusing only on gazetted forests on public land managed by Kenya Forest Service.
"To get to the 10 per cent forest cover, public land is not sufficient. This calls for incentive measures to get private and community landowners to establish forests on their land," the draft policy says.
It says trees are an essential part of diversified farm production, providing both subsistence products and incomes while contributing to soil fertility and water conservation.
Products such as fuelwood or fodder from trees, shrubs or grass contribute significantly to the economies of the rural population.
Official statistics show forest cover increased from 5.9 per cent in 2018 to 8.83 per cent in 2021.
The national tree cover stands at 12.13 per cent, above the constitutional target of 10 per cent.
The National Forest Resources Assessment 2021 shows the country has 5.2 million hectares of national forest cover, which represents 8.83 per cent of the total area.
Environment CS Aden Duale says there is a need for the ongoing restoration efforts to involve all Kenyans.
“Community participation is equally critical. I encourage each of you to actively participate in tree planting and environmental conservation. Together, we can achieve remarkable results,” the CS said on August 15, during celebration of the 78th Independence Day of India.
Duale said fruit tree seedlings will be given to farmers as part of the wider plan to enhance tree cover.
He said the move will improve health outcomes as well as livelihoods for communities.
Some counties have already embraced the idea of giving out free fruit tree seedlings to communities.
Elgeyo Marakwet has been distributing mangoes and avocados to farmers.
The Kenya Forestry Research Institute has enhanced its seedlings production capacity.
Kefri acting CEO Dr Jane Njuguna in a past interview said the country will have to plant at least 20 billion trees, as not all of them will survive.
“Growing means you have to plant beyond the 15 billion trees to allow for the death of some of them. We have to plant about 20 billion or so for 15 billion to survive,” she said.
The state plans to grow not less than 1.5 billion trees every year for the country to meet the target of 15 billion in the next 10 years.