Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru launched the six million trees initiative in Kirinyaga County to mark President William Ruto’s 56th birthday.
Waiguru launched the ambitious million trees initiative on Wednesday.
The tree planting exercise is part of the county’s contribution towards the president’s five billion trees target set to be achieved in the next five years.
The ambitious program is aimed at mitigating climate change by improving the country’s forest and tree cover.
While planting trees along Kagio -Kutus highway, Waiguru said that the county is mobilising its residents to plant trees on their farms, in the forests, in the riparian land and in public institutions.
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“We wish a very happy birthday to the President and assure him that we are supporting his call for the planting of trees, and today being his birthday we have planted 1,000 trees as we launch our county’s six million trees bid,” Waiguru said.
The Council of Governor’s Chair said that the adverse effects of climate change have continued to be felt and Kirinyaga was not an exemption.
“We are all aware that climate change continues to affect our daily lives through its adverse effects such as drought, floods and pests and strange diseases. Closer home, we have seen the weather patterns change, we have seen water levels in rivers such as Nyamindi significantly drop,” she said.
She added that the initiative aims at increasing tree cover from the current 30 per cent to 40 per cent and the forest cover from 23 per cent to 30 per cent in the next five years.
Waiguru, who is among the governors who have been very instrumental in advocating for climate action led other governors to the COP27 held in Egypt last month.
At the forum, the governor joined other leaders in making commitments towards climate action as well as advocating for climate financing.
Ruto appointed Waiguru to the National Climate Change Council one week ago because of her relentless campaigns for climate change actions.
The council is expected to leverage the country’s resources and expertise to support the whole-of-government approach to addressing the climate crisis.
It will also approve the revised National Climate Change Action Plan and advise the governments on policies and laws necessary for climate change response and attaining low carbon climate change resilience development.
Waiguru has been spearheading the implementation of multifaceted climate smart in agriculture in Kirinyaga County.
She has supported over 50,000 farmers to diversify their agricultural activities to increase production and productivity thus increasing their income streams through Wezesha Kirinyaga program.
This initiative has reduced over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture and conventional cash farming.
At the CoG, the governor has been agitating for additional funding to enable counties to implement programs and projects that are geared towards creating resilience and adaptation among the communities.
