KFS urge MPs to increase funds for environmental activities

The Kenya forest service has asked parliament to raise funds meant for environmental activities such as tree planting and rehabilitation of forests.

Deputy chief conservator of Forest Peter Waweru on Friday urged MPs to raise the environment funds available at the Constituency Development Fund kitty from 2 per cent up to 5 per cent.

He explained that the funds will be used to assist environmental programs in primary schools where the institutions will also start nursery beds for different trees.

Waweru urged the government to lobby MPs to support environmental programs, as the country does its best to achieve 30 per cent tree cover by 2032.

He spoke at Uplands forest in Kimotu block in Lari constituency in Kiambu county where he had accompanied acting chief conservator of forest Alex Lemarkoko on a tree planting exercise.

Lemarkoko led the KFS staff from its headquarters in Karura to plant 3,100 trees.

He said that this was part of the KFS program to achieve Ruto’s aim of getting 15 billion trees planted by 2032.

“We are within our work plan. We want to ensure all our staff have planted trees and also to encourage our supporters, partners and general members of the public that it was each and everyone’s duty to conserve the environment,” he said.

The chief conservator added that they target each member of the staff to plant 30 trees.

Lemarkoko said security departments and government organs and arms have been mandated to plant trees too.

He added that Kenya Forestry Research Institute has been mandated by the government to collect seeds, store and research them.

Waweru applauded the communities living near the forests for their continued support of tree planting and forest conservation.

He noted that they were allowed to cultivate food crops in the plantation forests so that they cultivate the trees planted in their plots under the program known as Plantation Establishment Livelihood Systems (Pelis).

Chairman of Kimotu block Ndirangu Karichu dismissed claims that communities living near the forest had boycotted participating in forest activities because they had been stopped planting maize in the forests zoned for Pelis.

Karichu says that they had obeyed the instruction but they were left pushing for the removal of the order.

However, he said a lot of their members had planted maize crops, saying they feed them to their domestic animals such as goats, sheep, cows and donkeys since monkeys do not allow maize to mature.