Despite heavy downpours, hundreds of Kenyans participated in tree planting in Nairobi after the government designated Monday as a public holiday to motivate citizens to contribute to the nationwide goal of planting 100 million trees.
President William Ruto has pledged to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 to enhance Kenya’s forest cover, responding to the severe drought affecting the Horn of Africa, the most severe in the region in four decades.
Despite heavy rainfall, officials, school students, and families congregated in different locations in the capital to participate in the planting of seedlings.
“I have planted more than 50 trees today. I think this is a powerful and necessary initiative for the planet specially after experiencing a dramatic drought in Kenya for several consecutive seasons,” government official Joan Kirika told media.
“I hope we keep celebrating this day annually, not necessarily as a holiday but a yearly reminder to care about the environment and think about the planet.”
Ruto has positioned himself as a champion for climate change, yet he has encountered criticism from environmentalists for his choice in July to lift a nearly six-year moratorium on logging.
He has justified the decision, emphasizing that it would generate employment opportunities. Ruto also argued that allowing mature trees to rot while sawmills imported timber was “foolishness.”
Last month, a Kenyan court prohibited the government from lifting the logging ban but granted permission for the felling of several thousand hectares of mature forest.
In 2018, a government task force reported that the cutting down of indigenous trees in Kenya’s forests was “rampant,” cautioning that approximately 5,000 hectares (around 12,350 acres) were being cleared annually.
According to government statistics, forestry and logging contributed 1.6 percent to Kenya’s economy last year. The data also indicated that the total forest cover was 8.8 percent in 2022.
Kenya’s timber industry provides direct employment to 50,000 people and indirectly supports 300,000 jobs. The choice to lift the ban aligns with addressing economic challenges, including high unemployment and inflation.