Kirinyaga County Government urges all residents to plant trees during all occasions in an effort to combat climate change

In a concerted effort to combat climate change, the County Government of Kirinyaga is rallying all residents to adopt a culture of tree planting during all occasions.

During a tree planting drive held at St. Trizas Secondary School, Kutus, on Friday, Deputy Governor David Githanda said emphasized that residents should ensure that they planted trees to mark various occasions, be they birthdays or weddings among others.

He reaffirmed the County Government’s commitment to improving the tree cover from 30.3% to 40% and the forest cover from 23.6% to 30%., and the implementation of a comprehensive climate change mitigation plan.

During the tree planting exercise that was led by the Principal Secretary of the State Department of Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, Roseline Njogu, 36,000 trees were planted across the county, with emphasis being laid on sustained tree growing culture by all the county residents.

Githanda said that Kirinyaga has a target of planting six million trees by 2027 which will be achieved by planting at least 1.5 million trees every year.

The National Tree Growing day was set aside to plant trees towards the achievement of National Ecosystem Restoration Strategy as well as commemorating the lives that were tragically lost during the recent heavy rains witnessed across the country.

In her address, PS Njogu, representing Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi echoed Githanda’s sentiments, underscoring the urgent need for tree planting as a fundamental strategy in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

“The plan is to plant 15 billion trees in 10 years in Kenya. It is important to plant trees in the long term in order to deal with climate change,” she emphasized, commending KirinyagaCounty’s progress in tree planting and urging other counties to follow suit.

A week ago, the county government staff planted over 3,000 trees to mark the International Labour Day.