According to the Ministry of Environment, the process of acquiring the 2B seedlings needed in the exercise had kicked off with various stakeholders’ keen on the programme. This came as the Ministry called for massive investment into the exercise noting that the country was ranked among ‘low-forest-cover-countries’ in the region. According to the head of forest conservation in the ministry Alfred Gichu, the government was committed to increasing forest cover which currently stood at 7 percent.
Gichu said that in a bid to achieve the targeted forest cover, there was a need to invest in quality seedling production and reafforestation. “We require over 2B quality seedlings on the 2m hectares and we are calling on partners to work with us so that we can achieve our targets,” he said. Gichu was addressing the press in Lake Naivasha Resort during a consultative meeting organized by UNDP to address reducing emission from deforestation and degradation (REDD+). “As per the latest data our forest cover stands at seven percent and we are keenly working with partners in getting the 2B seedlings that are required,” he said.
On his part, Dr. Joram Kagombe, a deputy director with Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI) noted that commercializing forestry would help achieve the ten percent cover. He said that the cover could be achieved by spreading their wings to private farms and issuance of quality seedlings in the right places. Kagombe noted that the research institute was organizing a commercial forest investment conference in September to discuss with stakeholders on how to reap from commercial forestry. “Since the logging ban came into effect three years ago, we have seen farmers turn to commercial forestry which is a big plus for the country,” he said.
A member of the Kenya Association of Manufacturing (KAM) Georgina Wacuka said that the logging ban had affected the sector with the cost of timber rising sharply. “We are keen to work with the government in planting the 2B seedlings as the timber sector is critical for the economy of this country,” she said. This was echoed by the deputy CEO Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Martha Cheruto who said that they were keen to adopt forests. “The private sector is fully behind the initiative of planting 2B trees as one way of addressing the current effects of climate change,” she said.