Chiefs lead the way in national tree-planting exercise

In a joint statement on Sunday, November 12, Interior PS Raymond Omollo and his Forestry counterpart Gitonga Mugambi, said the government had mobilized the provision of seedlings across the counties and was in the process of distributing them to various places.

Omollo said the government would focus at the location level, where chiefs would coordinate the distribution of seedlings and mobilize residents in their localities to actively participate.

"This way, we will be able to maximize this day to grow as many trees as possible as we work towards attaining our ambitious goal of planting 15 billion trees by 2032," said Omollo.

The national tree-planting exercise aimed to plant 150 million trees across the country in one day, with the participation of Cabinet secretaries, government officials, chiefs, and local communities.

Various groups, organisations and Njukiri Community Forest Associaton plant trees at Camp Dunda falls in Manyatta constituency Embu County. [Muriithi Mugo, Standard]

Some of the regions that took part in the exercise include Nairobi, Marsabit, Garissa, Makueni, Embu Kirinyaga, Kwale, Homa Bay and Mandera counties.

The exercise was coordinated by the chiefs, who distributed tree seedlings to the locals and supervised the planting activities.