Recently, the Kenyan Government has begun an initiative to help tackle climate change & deforestation, by giving everyone in Kenya a national holiday on Monday 13th November, and encouraging them to spend this time planting tree seedlings, in an effort to help save the planet, as deforestation is one of the big challenges faced by Kenya. This initiative comes as part of the government’s goal to plant 15 billion trees within the next 10 years.
What actually is this initiative?
This initiative is being led by Kenyan president William Ruto, as well as Environment Minister Soipan Tuya. Each Kenyan is encouraged to buy & plant 2 seedlings on their own land, as well as help plant government-provided seedlings in designated public areas. The target for each of these holidays is to plant 100 million trees across all of Kenya, and it has been getting a lot of headline political attention, with President Ruto personally leading the initiative in Makueni, in the east of Kenya.
How will it work?
The tree-planting during this national holiday is recommended, not enforced. There’s a strong possibility that many will choose to work during the holiday due to their financial situations, a factor that will be exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis faced in Kenya. The tracking of tree-planting will be done through an app, Jaza Miti, which allows individuals and organizations to record the planting of trees, including information such as species and date planted. This app had reportedly already had 2 million registrations as of Sunday the 12th of November, the day before the holiday. However, the tree planting will not be taking place in the northern regions of Kenya, owing to the recent El Niño rains & the damage caused to infrastructure.
What else is the government doing about climate change?
The Kenyan government has faced some criticisms over this initiative, mainly regarding the failure to effectively tackle issues surrounding illegal logging in forests, so some find their championing of tree-planting a bit hypocritical. However, the initiative has faced broad support among the Kenyan people, and the exercise of encouraging tree-planting is stated to continue past the holiday.
While there are definitely issues with the initiative, it can overall be seen as a positive move. While there is definitely more to be done with regards to illegal logging and other issues around deforestation, this initiative is sure to help tackle climate change and deforestation within Kenya, and it’s clear that many Kenyan people are willing to help and support it.
