By Mahlon Lichuma Asava
The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has started replanting tree seedlings within the Kapseret forest in part of an effort to help the government achieve the 30 per cent green cover agenda.
According to Joseph Ondieki, the Kapseret Forest Association manager, the station which covers about 1,300 hectares of land has trees covering 95 per cent of the area, while the remaining 5 per cent of the land is left bare.
The area had tree seedlings planted but they did not survive.
“The re-planting process started last year after the president’s speech on the green cover agenda,” Ondieki said.
So far, over 10,000 tree seedlings have been planted in the bare areas within the forest since the initiative started.
He was speaking during a tree planting event organized by AAR Healthcare at the Kapseret forest which saw 3,000 tree seedlings planted.
Speaking at the event, Dr Luke Shiundu, the manager of Eldoret AAR outpatient offices said that most lifestyle diseases are a result of environmental degradation.
He said they had joined in a bid to help the government increase the forest cover as a way of addressing the climate change effects.
“When the environment is well taken care of, it helps reduce cases of lung infections and cancer,” said Dr Shiundu.
The government has set a target of planting 15 billion trees by 2030 to help increase tree cover and combat climate change.
Currently, the tree cover is at 7.2 per cent, according to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which is short by 3 per cent of the 10 per cent cover that was to be achieved by 2022.
