Why Kenya’s forest cover is growing slowly despite many trees planted

Nyumba ya Mumbi Women Dancers at Mteza Bridge in Dongo Kundu on Monday / BRIAN OTIENO

Cardinal Youth Association members at Mteza Bridge in Dongo Kundu on Monday / BRIAN OTIENO

Mangrove trees that died after they were planted at the wrong place in Mteza bridge / BRIAN OTIENO

Cardinal Youth Association members plant trees at Mteza Bridge in Dongo Kundu on Monday / BRIAN OTIENO

Kenya’s forest cover dream is moving slowly because of the high rate at which trees planted die leading to wasted efforts, an environmental enthusiast has said.

Maureen Kemunto, an advocate of the High Court and Cardinal Youth Association legal officer, on Monday said many times Kenyans plant trees in areas where they are not adapted to.

“Kenyans plant wrong trees in wrong areas,” she said during a tree planting exercise at the Mteza bridge along the Dongo Kundu bypass.

At the Coast, for example, the most common trees are mangrove trees, which have a high success rate.

However, there are many varieties of mangrove trees, about nine, that require different soil and weather conditions, thus sometimes people get it wrong.

“So, you have to pick a variety that specifically will increase your chance of achieving the forest cover that you want,” Kemunto said.

At Mteza bridge, for instance, about two acres of mangroves died after a group planted the wrong species of mangroves at a muddy area.

Mbuta Mazingira member Bakari Randuni said the group failed to seek advice from locals and ended up wasting trees worth tens of thousands of shillings.

He called on groups that want to plant mangrove trees to ask locals for advice before planting.

“The other day, a group came here and planted the Mkandaa variety in a muddy area which is wrong. They should have planted Mkoko in the muddy area and Mkandaa in a less muddy area,” Randuni said.

He said the Mkoko variety helps aerate the soil, create a breeding ground for crabs and other marine organisms.

“They provide strong poles for construction of houses,” Randuni said.

Cardinal Youth Association chair Maj (rtd) Frank Anyega said they identify gaps in the society and try to bridge them through various initiatives.

“After we identify the gaps, we narrow down to specific groups, which we fund in different ways. We want a better society in a better environment,”Anyega said.

For the environment, Anyega said they target to plant a million mangrove trees by the end of 2026.

The Monday exercise was phase seven of the plan and they planted 2,000 trees.

Last year alone, they planted 632,000 mangrove trees across the Coast region.

This in partnership with many other groups including Taji Langu Foundation, Huduma Centre, Kenya Ports Authority, Shabana FC Fans Club, among others.

Cardinal Youth Association secretary general Ken Lwambi they are working towards realizing President William Ruto’s agenda of planting the 15 billion trees by 2032.

Lwambi said mangrove trees have many benefits which are in line with CYA’s dream, of empowering communities.

Shabana FC Fans Club Coast branch chair Douglas Nyamache said Kenyans need to take an interest in conserving the environment for future generations.

Taji Langu Foundation’s Mwanaumi Bakari said conserving the environment is akin to prolonging life.

She said without a safe environment, life will be difficult for not only humans but also animals.

Nyumba ya Mumbi Women Dancers chair Faith Mureithi said anyone who wants to breath fresh air, should take an initiative to plant trees.

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

In December 2022, President William Ruto launched the National Tree Planting and Growing Initiative with the goal of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.

This is meant to combat climate change, restore ecosystems, and increase Kenya’s forest cover to 30 per cent. Kenya’s forest cover by 2021 was 8.83 per cent, according to the National Forest Resource Assessment. The Ruto initiative aims to reverse deforestation, reduce greenhouse gas emission and improve livelihoods.