This archive report was first published on 25 December 2019.
On December 25, 2019, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) announced a plan to plant over two billion trees in the next three years.
The ambitious project aims to boost the country's forest cover to internationally-agreed standards, currently at 7.2 per cent.
According to KFS, the tree-planting exercise will involve enhanced tree planting campaigns and strict enforcement of moratoriums on logging in gazetted forests.
Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS), a forest management programme that allows farmers to practice farming in depleted sections as they nurture trees, remains banned.
Joel Laigong, a KFS board member, stated that the 10 per cent forest cover target was initially set for 2030 but was reduced by eight years, necessitating accelerated tree-planting exercises.
Laigong estimated that two billion trees could be achieved by 2022 if each of the 47 million Kenyans planted at least seven tree seedlings every year for the next three years.
The State extended the ban on logging in forests for another year in November, affecting saw millers who rely on logging for raw materials.
Laigong attributed the initiative to President Uhuru Kenyatta's instructions for more trees to be planted to achieve internationally agreed forest cover.
