Accra:Nandi County Communities in and around Nandi County’s forests are being encouraged to cultivate food crops on designated restoration sites to improve livelihoods and support the growth of newly planted trees.
According to Kenya News Agency, Governor Stephen Sang emphasized involving local residents in tree planting and protection as a way to incentivize them to safeguard forests while enhancing household food security. During Mazingira Day celebrations at Kimondi Forest Station, Sang highlighted this approach to strengthen community participation in rehabilitating degraded forest areas.
Governor Sang noted that residents had opportunities to tend seedlings and grow selected food crops, benefiting communities and supporting the national tree-growing initiative. Nandi County Forest Conservator John Momanyi explained that the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS) encourages communities near forests to engage in conservation while reaping the benefits of food production.
Momanyi reported that residents of Kimondi volunteered to prepare planting sites and plant seedlings during the celebrations. Additionally, 30 schools across the county sub-counties were supplied with seedlings for National Environment Day activities. The county has distributed and planted thousands of seedlings in areas like Kimondi, Emgwen, Kapsabet, and Tinderet, contributing to the national planting target.
The Kenya Forest Service has directed village elders to receive 100 seedlings each to promote community involvement. Seedling production sites are being established at Kimondi and Tinderet with National Youth Service support to increase seedling availability for restoration, pending site preparation completion.
Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services Belio Kipsang, present at the National Mazingira Day event, stated that Nandi aims to plant 171 million trees over a decade as part of the national campaign to grow 15 billion trees. He urged residents to protect seedlings, noting that conservation is vital for sustainable development, including housing and infrastructure projects.
Forest-sector investors, such as Morgan Kennedy Avugwe, are supporting timber production and tree-growing to ensure sustainable raw material access. Avugwe emphasized the need for investors to replace harvested trees to sustain the forestry sector, mentioning his team’s efforts in planting over 1,000 trees during the celebrations.
Governor Sang encouraged colleges, churches, non-governmental organizations, and development partners to adopt forest sections and take responsibility for nurturing trees to maturity. He stressed the importance of partnerships between communities, government agencies, and institutions in ensuring tree-planting initiatives lead to lasting forest restoration. The National Environment Day celebrations at Kimondi Forest Station united government officials, stakeholders, students, and local residents to promote environmental conservation and community involvement in tree-growing.
