President Ruto directs recruitment of 2,700 forest rangers, 600 forest officers
President William Ruto has directed the
immediate recruitment of 2,700 Forest Rangers and 600 Forest Officers to drive
the government’s agenda to increase Kenya’s forest cover to more than 30 per
cent by 2032.
The President said Kenya is concerned about
climate change and its impact on the country as a whole, and in particular the
arid and semi-arid regions in particular.
“Without a doubt, climate
change is complicating our roadmap towards socio-economic
transformation and achievement of Sustainable Development
Goals,” said the President.
He said Kenya is currently faced with a
severe drought, the worst in 40 years, due to failed rains for three years.
“As we seek short-term measures to
respond to the evolving situation, I have directed that a
long-term and sustainable solution to the planetary
challenges be put in place. The ultimate solution
includes greening our country to more than 30 per cent
of tree cover by 2032,” he said.
He noted that data on Kenya’s forest cover
was alarming since only 5.2 million square kilometres of Kenya’s 59.2 million
square kilometres is under forest cover.
“The remaining 54 million hectares are
bare earth, exposed to erosion and biodiversity loss. Over 80 per
cent of this lies in arid and semi-arid lands,” stated President
Ruto.
He said the Government was in the final
stages of designing a Special Presidential Forestry and Rangeland
Restoration Acceleration Programme.
“The plan is to grow 5 billion
trees in the next 5 years, and an additional 10 billion
trees between 2027 and 2032. This will eventually lead to
the rehabilitation and restoration of 10.6 million hectares through
constituency nerve centres in the 290 constituencies, as well as some
specially selected ecosystems,” he added.
The Head of State said that he will soon
inaugurate a Climate Change Council that will steer Kenya’s climate
action through
stakeholder engagements coordinated in the Presidency as
required by the Climate Change Act, 2016.
The council will start mobilising
finance from the public, private and multilateral sources, including climate
finance, to fund the proposed activities.
This is anchored on the United Nations goals
and backed by the Tree Growing and Sustainable Forestry Finance
Management Programme supported by UNDP, UNEP, FAO, UNCDF and New
York’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
The programme also responds to
Kenya’s commitments to help reduce global greenhouse gas
emissions that are articulated in various multilateral environmental
agreements and the United Nations Decade of Action on Ecosystem
Restoration.
Kenya will rally the globe towards more
ambitious climate action in next month’s 27th UN Climate Change
Conference at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The Government will continue supporting
efforts by the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) in
high-quality tree seed production, collection, processing, testing and
distribution in the 18 Tree Seeds Centres in Gede in Kilifi, Kitui,
Muguga in Kiambu, Garissa, Migori, Kakamega, Londiani in Kericho, Turbo in
Uasin Gishu and Marigat in Baringo. Others are Rumuruti in
Laikipia, Nyeri, Turkana, Kibwezi in Makueni, Meru, Wajir,
Maseno in Kisumu, Lamu and Taita Taveta.
“This will boost KEFRI’s storage
capacity from the current 60 metric tonnes a
year to 240 metric tonnes. In 10 years, this
will inject Ksh100 billion into the economy as a result of the
green jobs created from the seedling production,” said the President.
The Head of State said agroforestry and
farming of avocados, mangoes and macadamia should also open new
value chains for our export market, creating new green jobs in the sector.
“I, therefore, urge all Kenyans
to support the government call to grow at least 15 billion trees in
the next 10 years,” he remarked.
He also challenged Governors to contribute
towards efforts to increase the forest cover in the counties.
The President spoke at Uhuru Gardens when he
led Kenyans in marking this year’s Mashujaa Day Celebrations.
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