State targets to plant 470m trees by 2022

Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong'o and ICT and Innovation PS Jerome Ochieng lead residents and forest officials in planting trees at Karateng’ in Kisumu West Constituency on Monday. [Kepher Otieno, Standard]

The government targets to plant at least 470 million trees across the country as part of a campaign to attain a 10 per cent forest cover by 2022.

Already, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has kicked off the national tree planting exercise targeting all the 47 counties, with various senior State officers tasked with launching the programme.

Yesterday, ICT and Innovation PS Jerome Ochieng, accompanied by Governor Anyang Nyong'o and his executives, launched the campaign in Kisumu County.

Assisted by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) conservation officials, hey planted over 1,000 seedlings at Maseno.

"If we purpose to plant at least 10 trees per day, we will hit the target," Ochieng said. The PS said the exercise, also spearheaded by the Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA), is one of the pillars of the Big Four Agenda and that is why county governments and local communities have been roped in.

Kenya's current forest cover is at seven per cent, according to the Kenya Natural Resources Alliance.