Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o on Friday launched the city greening initiative to kick start his plan of planting three million trees by 2025.
The Governor joined Kisumu Greening Initiative partners and environmental champions to plant trees at Kisumu’s airport corridor in a function that saw a total of 1,500 trees planted.
Speaking during the launch, Nyong’o said the initiative will help combat the effects of climate change, as well as move the county’s forest cover to 7 percent by 2027.
To mitigate this, we have initiated strategic programs and plans to ensure sustainable management of the city’s environment
Governor Nyong’o
“Kisumu currently has one of the lowest forest covers in the country at about 1.55 %, against a national figure of 12.13%,” said the Governor.
Climate Change
Climate change, he said, has more recently become a real challenge with the city’s major contributors to carbon footprints that have caused contemporary environmental challenges and extreme weather patterns.
“To mitigate this, we have initiated strategic programs and plans to ensure sustainable management of the city’s environment,” he furthered.
The solution, he posed, is to set aside the 10th of every month as Tree Planting Day for all residents within the city.
The nursery will stock an assortment of both indigenous and exotic species, a wide variety of fruit trees to be planted in learning institutions and homesteads for both economic and nutritional value
Governor Nyong’o
3 million trees
He also disclosed that the county government has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to set up a modern 3m-tree seedling-capacity tree nursery.
The seed centers which will be established with support from Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) will produce seedlings for the project.
“The nursery will stock an assortment of both indigenous and exotic species, a wide variety of fruit trees to be planted in learning institutions and homesteads for both economic and nutritional value,” said Nyong’o.
Among other projects in the greening initiative include the establishment of a City Arboretum at the decommissioned Kachok dumpsite