Kisumu County is targeting to plant more than 10,000 trees during this year’s Mazingira Day celebrations at Koguta Forest in Nyakach Sub-County, as part of efforts to boost forest cover and promote environmental conservation.
The initiative forms part of the government’s national tree-growing programme, which seeks to increase Kenya’s forest cover while strengthening environmental protection and improving solid waste management.
Speaking ahead of the celebrations, NEMA Kisumu County Director Leonard Ofula said the county had partnered with Equity Bank, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Project, among other stakeholders, to conduct a city clean-up and tree-planting exercise.
Ofula said the initiative also seeks to raise public awareness about the importance of keeping the environment clean, particularly within Kisumu’s Central Business District.
Equity Bank Kisumu Branch Manager Alice Ouma said the bank had supported the planting of more than 48 million trees nationally and helped over 200 institutions establish clean energy systems.
Ouma said the bank would continue supporting environmental conservation initiatives and efforts to strengthen the implementation of sustainable environmental management practices in Kisumu County.
Meanwhile, the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Project has pledged to support the initiative within Kisumu City as part of its environmental sustainability programme.
This year’s Mazingira Day is being marked under the theme “Our Environment, Our Responsibility,” with the slogan “Panda Miti, Linda Mazingira.”
