Mama Racheal adopts 200 hectares of Kakamega Forest

First lady Mama Rachael Ruto has urged women and youths living around Kakamega Forest help in conserving the forest.

She told them to form groups to raise nurseries and sell the seedlings in a bid to attain the national forest cover of 15 billion trees within ten years.

Rachael who was accompanied by the Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya was speaking in Kakamega on Thursday.

She launched her adoption of the Kakamega Forest, in which she  adopted 200 hectares of the forest. More than 450 Hectares of Kakamega forest isunconserved.

Rachael who will be celebrating her birthday this Sunday said she was doing this in commemoration of the day she called on every Kenyan to plant 300 trees in the next ten years.

“Together with the county government of Kakamega, I would like to hold hands with the community living around the forest to grow more trees," she said.

"We want to make sure that the process will involve economic activities which will be beneficial to the people living around the forest to improve their economic status."

"Women and youth groups around this forest should establish tree nurseries in order to raise tree seedlings which we shall buy and plant on the adopted cover.”

Kakamega forest is Kenya's only tropical rainforest and is said to be the last remnant of the ancient Guinea-Congolian rainforest that once spanned the continent.

Mama Rachael also called upon the women to embrace the use of clean energy in their cooking saying it will help reduce cutting of trees.

“The only thing that will help us in conserving this forest is changing our ways of cooking and use of clean cooking stoves which don’t require the use of firewood," she said.

"We shall have to adopt the use of briquettes, LPG,and other ways that can help in conserving our forests."