First Lady Rachel Ruto on Tuesday announced that she had decided to adopt 200 hectares of the iconic Kakamega forest in Kakamega County for re-afforestation programmes.

Speaking during the International Day of Forests, she said adopting the forest was part of her pledge to grow 500 million trees in the next 10 years as part of long-term efforts to tackle climate change.

“We should make deliberate efforts to grow and protect our forest cover through sustainable forest practices,” Rachel said.

She added, “As part of the Office of the First Lady’s commitment to growing 500 million trees by 2032, I have adopted 200 hectares of Kakamega forest for restoration.”

The First Lady called on Kenyans who believe in her course to join her in forest restoration.

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“I am excited to work with individuals and groups with similar goals to plant trees, reduce carbon footprints, and support policies that encourage sustainable forest management,” she added.


In October, 2022, President William Ruto urged Kenyans to plant 100 trees each as he announced plans to grow five billion trees as part of his climate change mitigation agenda.

“Every Kenyan, 50 million of us, must plant at least 100 trees, either in your compound, in your farm or in any other place you find…that is the surest way for us to turn around the climate so that we can have water, grow crops, do dams, agro-processing and make sure we have prosperity,” Ruto said then.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Kenya has about 6.1 per cent of forest cover or about 3,467,000 ha. Of this, 18.9 per cent or 654,000 ha is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form of forest.

Similarly, according to FAO, Kenya had 197,000 ha of planted forests with the country losing an average of 12,050 ha or 0.32 per cent per year between 1990 and 2010.

Between 1990 and 2010, Kenya lost 6.5 per cent of its forest cover or a total of about 241,000 ha.