By Ongaga Ongaga
Ecopreneur Dr Isaac Kalua Green has urged Kenyans to move beyond planting trees and take greater responsibility for nurturing and tracking them to maturity.
Speaking on Monday during the ‘Plant Your Age Day’, marked annually on September 14, Kalua said the country had witnessed a rush by individuals, institutions and governments to plant trees, but little effort had been made to ensure the seedlings survive.
Also Read
He said this year’s celebrations were therefore dedicated to taking stock of trees planted so far and ensuring that they are nurtured to maturity.
Kalua, who also launched his new book, Come Back and Check, said accountability was critical in determining the success of tree-planting initiatives.
The book chronicles his 50-year journey of planting and nurturing trees, with particular focus on follow-up efforts since 2011.
According to Kalua, about 1.2 billion trees have been planted since 2011, with 981 million surviving trees whose progress can be traced.
To strengthen accountability, the Green Africa Foundation has launched the Plant Your Age App, which enables users to plant a tree and track its progress to maturity.
The app provides information on when to water and prune a tree, its survival rating and other relevant information to help users care for the trees they plant.
Kalua urged Kenyans to personalise their tree-planting efforts by giving each tree a name and taking responsibility for its survival.
He said tree planting should not become an exercise in which money and resources are spent on seedlings that are subsequently abandoned, but one whose benefits are realised when the trees mature.
Plant Your Age ambassador and 13-year-old environmentalist Baraka Moruri challenged Kenyans to shift their focus from simply planting trees to ensuring their survival, saying nurturing trees was an important measure of accountability.
Hillary Kibiwott, an ambassador for the Government’s 15 billion trees campaign and world record holder for the most trees planted in a single day, also called for greater protection and nurturing of trees planted under the campaign.
Kibiwott said he had planted indigenous trees in areas requiring reforestation as part of his contribution to the 15 billion trees campaign.
Green Africa Foundation Executive Director John Kioli urged Kenyans to plant and care for trees, saying protecting the environment would ensure communities enjoy benefits such as clean air and oxygen.
