The Committee on the National Tree Growing Campaign in Uasin Gishu County, has finished all arrangements to plant trees during the National Tree Growing Holiday slated for Monday November 13. The Committee chaired by Uasin Gishu County Commissioner Dr. Eddyson Nyale and Co-chaired by Uasin Gishu County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr. Sam Kotutt held public and stakeholder mobilization forum at the County Hall, Eldoret town, to plan on how and where the seedlings would be sourced, identify the main sites for tree planting exercise and attendant logistics. Speaking during the forum, Dr. Nyale pointed out that the presidential directive to plant 200 million tree seedlings this holiday across all the counties in the country should be implemented effectively. He noted that out of 200 million seedlings each county is allocated a target of about 4.3 million tree seedlings which he insisted must be achieved in Uasin Gishu. Various stakeholders including government agencies like Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), Kenya Defense Forces (KDF), National Youth Service (NYS), Kenya Prisons Service, County government of Uasin Gishu, Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA), KEBS, KEFRI, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) and others all contributed a total of about a million seedlings with many more pledges. The County Commissioner said that the government is keen in terms of sensitizing and educating the members of the public through various media like local radio stations, public barazas and others on the importance of planting and protecting trees as a way to combat climate change which has affected the whole world. He called for further support from stakeholders and other partners to come together in order to mobilize resources and labour to ensure the seedlings reach the identified sites on time to enable each member of the public plant a tree this planting holiday. Dr. Nyale said that, they are targeting to plant one million tree seedlings in various identified sites across the county on Monday, with the remaining 3.3 million out of the 4.3 million target being done within a period of the next two months. ‘The target of 4.3 million tree seedlings must be reached in Uasin Gishu, we should come together with all stakeholders and mobilize resources together in terms of where to get the seedlings, identifying sites to grow trees and arranging logistics to plant and protect to ensure survival and sustainability of the trees for future generations,’ he said. The County Executive for Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr. Sam Kotutt reiterated the need to mobilize all stakeholders to plant and protect the trees as a way to conserve the environment and fight the effects of climate change. ‘The essence of planting trees is to counter global warming caused by high concentration of greenhouse gases particularly carbon dioxide which deplete the protective layer in the atmosphere called ozone layer thus bringing about climate change,’ he explained. He noted that the effects of global warming globally have caused the temperatures to rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius. Dr. Kotutt further explained that planting more trees helps in reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as they take in the gas emitted through human activities like factories and other processes and utilize it through a process called photosynthesis thus cleaning the atmosphere. ‘Trees use carbon dioxide to manufacture their own food in the presence of sunlight through photosynthesis, they help in reducing high levels of carbon dioxide, which reduces global warming and hence control climate change,’ noted Dr. Kotutt. ‘Effects of climate change affects us Africa, the developing countries by 90 percent more than the developed countries like those in Europe, Asia and others which produce about 80 percent of the carbon dioxide but climate change affects them by 10 percent only. It is felt much greatly in developing countries like us so we need to get up and plant as many trees as possible to combat effects of climate change,’ argued the CECM. The County Chief Officer for Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Mary Kerich said that the main site where the event would be conducted would be in Timboroa forest, Kaimur Wetland, a 45-acre site where about 20,000 indigenous tree species would be planted on Monday ‘We should mobilize people to ensure that every person plants a tree on that holiday to meet the one million target for that Monday while we move forward to beat the 4.3 million target in two months’ time,’ added Madam Kerich. Assistant County Forest Conservator (A/CFC) in Uasin Gishu, Mr. Isaack Omoding called on the members of the public to utilize the Jaza Miti Application from the google play store to upload information wherever they plant trees, noting that that will help the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to keep record of the important data in regard to number and types of trees planted in specific areas across the country.
Source: Kenya News Agency