• Nature Kenya, a local conservation NGO, estimates that the water catchment area provides ecosystem services valued at US$220 million annually.
• Mt Kenya forest and the Aberdare Ranges provide about 95 percent of Nairobi’s water and 70 percent of Kenya’s hydropower through the Tana River.
Image: HANDOUT
Patrick Kuria will on November 20 try to scale Mount Kenya in 12 hours.
Climbing the mountain normally takes between four and five days, but Kuria says it is possible in 12 hours.
“I will be helping in raising the awareness of the need to conserve our forest and help address Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15,” Kuria says.
He is a partner with PFK firm and targets to plant 50,000 trees within the Mount Kenya ecosystem.
PKF companies in East Africa—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda—are among leading firms of accountants and business advisers, specialising in advising the management of developing private and public businesses.
Mount Kenya is 5,199-metre high, making it the second tallest mountain in Africa.
Nature Kenya, a local conservation NGO, estimates that the water catchment area provides ecosystem services valued at US$220 million annually.
It is surrounded by pristine wilderness with lakes, tarns, glaciers, dense forest, mineral springs, rare and endangered species of animals, high altitude adapted plains game, and unique Montane and alpine vegetation.
Visitors can enjoy mountain climbing, camping and caving, with the mountain’s rugged glacier-clad peaks providing the perfect backdrop.
The scenery surrounding this designated World Heritage Site is breathtaking.
The forest is an important water catchment area that provides fresh drinking water for over two million people.
It is also a major source of water for agriculture, hydropower generation, and manufacturing.
Mt Kenya Forest and the Aberdare Ranges provide about 95 per cent of Nairobi’s water and 70 per cent of Kenya’s hydropower through the Tana River. Deforestation, however, remains the greatest threat facing the forest.
SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty and protect the planet.
The goals also ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The UN says 17 SDGs are integrated, recognising that action in one area will affect outcomes in others and development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Kuria, who has been scaling mountains for years, says there is a need for ecological restoration if SGDs are to succeed.
“I have scaled Mount Kenya several times since 2008. I scale one high Mountain every year,” he says.
He has been alternating between Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru, Ruwenzori and Everest.
Kuria says he organises tree-planting drives every time he scales up a mountain. He has partnered with Kenya Forest Service. Some of the tree planting initiatives have been done in Kakamega, Mau, Nakuru, and Kieni.
Two weeks ago, he scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in 24 hours. Ordinarily, climbing the mountain takes between five to six days.
Target 13 calls for action to combat climate change and its impacts. This is because climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones, aggravating water management problems, reducing agricultural production and food security, increasing health risks, damaging critical infrastructure, and interrupting the provision of basic services such water and sanitation, education, energy, and transport.
SDG 15 seeks to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.
Terrestrial ecosystems provide a series of goods, raw materials for construction and energy, food, and a series of ecosystem services including the capture of carbon, maintenance of soil quality, provision of habitat for biodiversity, maintenance of water quality, as well as regulation of water flow and erosion control, therefore contributing to reducing the risks of natural disasters such as floods and landslides, regulate climate and maintain the productivity of agricultural systems.
Maintaining those ecosystems greatly supports climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.