Plans to rehabilitate the sections of Mau Forest that were cleared by settlers are on course.
Green Belt Movement programmes officer John Waweru on Friday told the Star that the ‘Save Mau’ campaign will be rolled out soon.
"We are concerned about the state of Mau,” he said during a tree-planting drive at Kireita Forest in Kiambu county.
More than 10,000 trees were planted in the forest.
Waweru said Geen Belt is ready to support all initiatives aimed at restoring the forests.
“We have planted 846,000 trees countrywide and we are expecting to hit one million by the end of the year,” he said.
Waweru said water towers have been the main beneficiaries of restoration.
In Mount Elgon, he said, they have planted more than 300,000 trees, Nandi 150,000 and more than 200,000 in Nakuru’s Bahati area.
Waweru said the Green Belt Movement has also planted more than 50,000 trees in Nairobi.
Since 1997, GBM has planted more than 55 million trees.
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Waweru said there is need for all stakeholders to take an active role even as money from donors dwindles.
GBM founder Prof Wangari Maathai championed for the preservation of the Mau, which made her a thorn in the flesh of President, Daniel arap Moi’s tenure.
She, however, won a Nobel peace prize for her efforts in preservation of the environment and Kenya’s largest forest reserve.
The Kenya Forest Service has been appealing for help from stakeholders.
It needs 360 million trees but can only provide 160 million.
Head of Trade Finance at the Credit Bank, John Gichuki, said there is need to empower SMEs for them to contribute effectively to conservation.
“We cannot support customers who do destructive things to the environment,” Gichuki said.
Yesterday, Narok county commissioner George Natembeya told the Star on the phone that money is needed to rehabilitate the recovered sections.
“We need money as planting trees in 12,000 acres is not a joke,”he said.
Natembeya said those who were evicted have been allowed to go back and harvest crops.
“We did not destroy their crops and they have now been allowed to go and harvest them,”he said.
Natembeya said the evictees are closely being monitored to stop any attempts to erect more structures.
“They are closely being supervised as we have permanent security camps there,”he said.
The county commissioner said the second phase of evictions, targeting close to 10,000 people, will start once funds are available.
The Environment ministry is leading the tree-planting initiative, aiming to make use of the October- November–December short rains.
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The theme of the campaign is ‘Panda Miti, Boresha Maisha’.
The KFS said it needs 360 million seedlings to restore forests.
The Mau Forest Complex sits within Kenya’s Rift Valley and is the largest indigenous forest in East Africa. Not only does it serve as a critical water catchment area for the country, but also the source of numerous rivers
Many of the rivers drain their water into Lake Victoria, which receives 60 per centof its water from Mau.
These rivers exist as lifelines for much of western Kenya’s wildlife and people.