Environment
In their centennial celebrations, the Kenya Rotary Club and the State Department of Education have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly plant one million trees this year.
The tree planting initiative where the Kenya Forest Service is also a partner is dubbed ‘ Plant Your Age Balance Campaign’ and majorly targets the State Department for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
Speaking during the program’s launch at Kabete National Polytechnic the Rotary Governor for Kenya, Joe Kamau said the Technical and Vocational Education and Training department and Rotary District 9212 are both commemorating 100 years in 2024 and the tree planting initiative is one of their centenary projects.
The rotary governor for Kenya, Joe Kamau planting trees with students at Kabete National Polytechnic to launch a tree planting program dubbed ‘Plant Your Age Balance Campaign’. Photo by Grace Naishoo.
“Under the Plant Your Age Balance Campaign, individuals will plant the number of trees remaining in their age to get to 100. For instance if one is 40, they would plant 60 trees,” said Kamau
He added that the organization will raise money to make sure there are enough seedlings to plant in the 230 public TVETs spread across nine regions which include: Nairobi, Mt. Kenya East, Mt. Kenya West, South Rift, North Rift, Northern Kenya, Western Kenya, Lake Region and Coast Region.
“We are in agreement with the deputy director of the state department of TVET’s environmental section, to use the institutions’ unused land for tree planting guided by the Kenya Forest Service,” added Kamau
The primary goal of the Kenyan Rotary Club Initiative, he said, was to promote environmental conservation by safeguarding natural resources, fostering the development of sustainable energy sources, and reducing pollution to minimize adverse impacts on the environment.
The group also promised to help about 50,000 needy students enrolled in various courses in all TVET institutions in Kenya. “As Rotarians we are committed to giving back to the community and fostering positive change hence our plan to ensure that we support needy students in our TVET institutions, by paying their school fee, as they maybe the future rotary members,” cited the Kenya rotary governor.
The initiative complements the Greening and Climate Change Unit at the State Department for TVET which has an annual target of planting five million trees by the end of this year.
The Rotary clubs in Kenya tree planting initiative is also in line with President Ruto’s National Tree Growing and Restoration Campaign, which targets to increase the national tree cover to 30 per cent by 2032 from 10 percent in 2022.
The rotary governor for Kenya, Joe Kamau planting trees with students at Kabete National Polytechnic to launch a tree planting program dubbed ‘Plant Your Age Balance Campaign’. Photo by Grace Naishoo.