Ministry launches project to plant 10 billion trees by 2030

Judi W Wakhungu, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Water and Natural Resources in Kenya speaks at the opening of the International Conference on Climate Change Global Green Growth Forum on October 21, 2013. Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Red Cross and the International  Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to roll out a nationwide project dubbed Sustainable Environment and Restoration Programme. Photo/FILE

What you need to know:

  • Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Red Cross and the International  Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to roll out a nationwide project dubbed Sustainable Environment and Restoration Programme.

The Environment ministry has embarked on an ambitious plan to plant 10 billion trees by 2030.

Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Red Cross and the International  Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to roll out a nationwide project dubbed Sustainable Environment and Restoration Programme.

The project, launched on Tuesday at the Kenya Wildlife Services headquarters in Nairobi, will be guided by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Said Prof Wakhungu: “Conserving our environment  requires such partnerships. Because through combined efforts we can move and change the world. When you move alone, you stumble.”

Kenya Red Cross boss Abbas Gullet said Kenya’s forest cover, at about 6 per cent, was way below the global conventional level of 12 to 16 per cent.

“We need to boost our forest cover to curb famine and drought,” Dr Gullet said.

He pledged, on behalf of the Red Cross, “to plant 2.5 billion trees by 2018, facilitate waste management in various counties and be at the forefront in advocating for environmental conservation.”

The same event also saw the launch of the Green Economy Assessment Report by the ministry and Unep.

The report examines the opportunities and options for turning to the green economy in four main sectors — agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and transportation.

It defines a green economy as “one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”.

Green economy

Said Unep executive director Achim Steiner: “The result of this study will contribute not only to the realisation of Kenya’s Vision 2030, but also the transition of Kenya to a green economy which is an enabler of sustainable development and green job creation.”