Trees,
Plans are underway to have Kenya registered within the Global Climate Change Action plan, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has revealed. According to the CS, the move will ensure that the country benefits from carbon credits.
Additionally, she noted that with its robust environment restoration activities, the country is ripe for compensation and support from the world’s largest polluters.
“The CS in charge of Environment is already in the process of registering the country within the Climate Change Action Plan so that issues of Carbon Credits will be done for the country by those who are bigger polluters and people who have contributed bigger percentages in terms of polluting the environment,” said Ms Wahome.
The registration paves the way for the country to benefit from kitties such as the Loss and Damage fund that was set during the Conference of Parties 27 (COP27) that was held in Egypt in 2022.
The COP28 held last year in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates culminated with the resolve to operationalise the kitty which will assist developing countries like Kenya that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The fund will also support climate change mitigation and recovery.
Ministry of Lands officials lead Kieni residents and National Government Administration Officers in planting trees at the Gathiuru Forest Station, Burguret block.A total of 40,000 trees were planted at the block
Further the UAE, set the fund in motion with a USD 100million pledge. Other countries that followed the UAE’s example include Germany with a USD 100 million commitment, the United Kingdom which committed US 50 million for the Fund. Japan committed USD 10 million while the United States of America committed USD 17.5 million.
The CS spoke in Kieni, Nyeri county when she led residents, elected leaders and the National Government Administration Officers in tree planting exercise at the Burguret Block.A total of 40,000 tree seedling were planted at the block while another 10,000 seedlings were planted at the Aberdare Tree Tops and 4,600 tree seedlings were planted at Gakanga forest station.
Ms Wahome also said that her ministry would engage elected leaders from the county to help her realise her ministry’s target of planting more than 200 million seedlings.
She said that the plan was to break down the target per constituency and nominate constituency tree champions to promote the National tree planting campaign at the local level.
“200 million is not a small number so we are coming up with a programme where we will create our own teams within the constituencies. We also intend to support the locals who are propagating seedlings so that they can sell to us at an affordable price so that we achieve the targets that we have been given,” she said.
Nyeri leads the country in both forest and tree cover at 40.81 per cent forest cover and 45.17 per cent tree cover.
According to Nyeri’s deputy chief conservator of Forests, Beatrice Mbula,Kieni constituency has the least forest cover in the county but with sustained vigorous tree planting campaigns, the county could attain 60 per cent forest cover