By Lauryne Akoth
The First Lady, Rachel Ruto has launched the First Lady’s landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy in Karura forest.
The First Lady’s office aims to plant 500 million trees by 2032 through this initiative, aligning with the Government’s 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme. Environment CS Soipan Tuya, accompanied by Forestry PS Mugambi Gitonga, welcomed the First Lady at Karura Forest for the inauguration.
The event was attended by dignitaries including H.E. Leila Benali, President of UNEA; Inger Andersen, Executive Director, of United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP); Gitonga Mugambi, Principal Secretary, State Department for Forestry; Manu Chandaria and Alex Lemarkoko, Chief Conservator of Forests, Kenya Forest Service.
The implementation strategy includes the involvement of women, youth, and learners. It supports the use of green financing to address funding shortfalls in restoration efforts, integrates agroforestry, fosters green employment and nature-based businesses, and urges women and youth to engage in green and circular economies.
Speaking at the launch, the first lady stated that the implementation of the strategy began with a pilot program that would provide the strategy with a testing and validation process.
” Over the past year, we have grown approximately 3M trees in a forest and learning institutions. Additionally, we have adopted 200 Ha/500 acres at Kakamega forest Shikuza block for restoration.” She noted that adoption laid the groundwork for similar adoptions with the support of her office and the Kenya Forestry services.
The First Lady also highlighted that the First Lady’s Mazingira Award (FLAMA) was launched during the inaugural African Climate Summit in September 2023. This environmental award provides learners with a platform to creatively contribute ideas to conservation efforts and the climate action agenda.
She mentioned that the competition is presently active, with details available at www.flama.go.ke. The winners will be announced in August 2024, and she encouraged learners to participate. Additionally, she touched upon the Mama Fruit Garden initiative, launched in May 2023, which aims to establish fruit gardens in all primary and secondary schools as part of the tree-growing initiative and to enhance learners’ nutrition.
The First Lady shared that the initiative has been successfully piloted in 135,000 schools nationwide and is now prepared for a nationwide rollout. She also pledged to replicate commercial nursery establishment centres, like the one initiated in August 2023 in Narok County in collaboration with Maasai Mara University, to produce quality and certified seedlings across all counties.
Mama Rachel Ruto called upon all organizations and individuals with similar goals to unite in support of Kenya’s tree-growing initiatives.
“Collaborating with like-minded entities and individuals enhances our influence and cultivates a collective vision for a sustainable future,” she expressed.
“Through collaborative efforts, we can magnify our influence on a national level, optimize resources, harness the strengths of our partners, and initiate a ripple effect that propels us towards the ambitious objective of planting 500 million trees.”
She also urged every Kenyan to plant at least 30 trees per year in line with the government’s vision.