Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba led residents of Kisii in a tree planting exercise at Nyangweta Forest in Etago Sub County to mark this year’s Mazingira Day celebrations.
The celebration was a culmination of the Mazingira Week running from October 5th to October 10th under the theme “Our environment, our responsibility: collective action for tree growing and environmental stewardship”.
Speaking during the event, CS Ogamba said the exercise was part of the government’s broader tree-growing campaign of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
He lauded the residents of Kisii for achieving the 26.4 percent tree cover and urged the community to work towards achieving the 30 percent target.
“The Ministry of Education is committed to planting more trees through its program where students from primary to tertiary institutions are engaged in tree planting,” Ogamba noted.
The CS also commended Kisii University, Kisii National Polytechnic and other education stakeholders for donating trees and leading the Mazingira Day tree-planting exercise.
He added that such tree planting initiatives can generate carbon credits and provide funding for various government projects while supporting environmental conservation.
Kisii Forest Conservator William Ojijo noted that Nyangweta Forest continues to serve as a habitat for animals while offering potential for recreational services, bird watching and ecotourism.
“This forest is regarded as an important forest and water ecosystem which feeds Gogo Falls through River Gucha and Kenyanya distribution, where hydroelectric power is being generated,” explained Ojijo.
He added the forest also conserves a lot of biodiversity and acts as a water source to the surrounding communities.
The Forest Conservator said they had planted 5000 tree seedlings to mark the Mazingira Day celebrations, adding to the presidential campaign of growing 15 billion trees.
Kisii University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nathan Ogechi, who also attended the event, noted the university had planted 41,000 trees this year against its annual target of 130,000.
Prof. Ogechi added the institution had planted 135,000 trees in the last financial year, attributing the progress to collaboration with other government departments and agencies.
He urged residents to plant and nurture trees to maturity, saying that sustained community participation was key to environmental conservation.
Notably, the government set aside seven planting streams during this year’s National Mazingira Week, targeting 17.24 million seedlings which were planted across the streams at an approximated value of Sh172.24 billion in ten years.
by Mercy Osongo and Alfred Misheba
