The Kenya Kwanza government has repeatedly expressed concern for the drastic effects of climate changes, tirelessly looking for ways to restore Kenya’s forest cover and help revert these effects. The Ministry of Environment together with various state agencies such as the NYS has been on a mission to plant as many trees as possible across the country, with a goal of 50 Million trees in the next few years. Once planted, our forests will need to be protected from unlawful logging. Letting trees reach maturity is not only important to maintain the quality of wood but it is a win for the environment.
The PS for Forestry, Mr. Gitonga Mugambi recently met with a delegation from ESRI East Africa to discuss various mattes among them the use of geospatial forest module that will aid in surveillance of forests and wildlife in the country.
Employing such technological methods of surveillance with aid the ministry and agencies in charge of forests in several ways.
- Planning and Site Operations.
The forest rangers will be able to execute things such as planting, pest control, pruning and trimming where necessary and much more. Forest rangers can be able to correctly asses the health and diversity of the forest and plan around that.
This will also enable the forestry service to assess how various types perform in various areas across the country which will help inform future tree planting.
- Monitoring.
With drones and satellite imagery, this is especially important to enable forests agencies detect dangers such as forest fires, pests such as a locust invasion, encroachment, illegal logging and diseases outbreak.
Planting 50 million trees will be just be the start to the journey of healing Kenya’s forest cover. Protecting and ensuring survival of these forests will be vital too.
Maintaining the country’s forest cover is not only vital to the environment but also to the economy. Economic practices such as carpentry and construction are reliant on healthy forests. Increasing the country’s forest cover ensures the country does not incur costs to import a commodity that can be grown in the country. Construction and carpentry are big supporters of economic growth, the BETA Agenda of providing affordable housing and creating employment.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry’s is as dedicated as the President, H.E Dr. Ruto, in helping the country combat climate change.