The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has put in place a raft of measures to ensure government achieves the ambitious target of 30pc tree cover by 2032.
In a statement newsroom, KFS said it has made available a total of 18,000,403 seedlings for planting countrywide during the current rainfall season which has commenced in September.
In addition, the Service intends to continue raising more high quality tree seedlings having received 4,680.0Kgs of assorted tree seeds from Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI).
The seeds have already been distributed to KFS tree nurseries countrywide for production of over 200 million seedlings for planting from the next tree planting season.
Besides the tree seedlings available within KFS tree nurseries, a total of 42,393,935 seedlings is currently available in private tree nurseries and within nurseries operated by other institutions.
The KFS through the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry is in the process of hiring 4,000 tree nursery attendants for the ‘Green Army’ program.
The Green Army is expected to greatly contribute to the achievement of growing 1.5 billion tree seedlings per year for the next ten years.
“The Green Army tree nursery workers will assist in the national tree growing and ecosystem restoration program by raising tree seedlings, and planting trees, silvicultural operations in forests among other forestry duties. Applications were received and interviews are expected to be conducted on a day to be announced in the coming weeks,” said KFS.
The service is also leveraging on technological advancements such as remote sensing and use of drones in forest monitoring to monitor forests and ensure survival of the planted trees.
“KFS has participated in designing the Jaza Miti App which is a mobile application for tracking tree planting progress across the country. The main objective of the Jaza Miti App is to provide information that enhances science-based smart greening activities by stakeholders in forest-based enterprises.”
Currently, KFS operates 300 tree nurseries with plans to establish 41 additional nurseries mostly targeting ASAL counties that have the greatest restoration potential.
