The Mau is not only Kenya's largest mountain forest and water catchment area, it's the largest of all in East Africa and collects the most rainwater.
The Mara River runs through the world-famous Maasai Mara National Reserve. It's fame is well-deserved due to the concentration of wildlife.
Without rainwater collected first in the Mau Forest, then fed into the watershed, rivers like the Mara would not get the water that is the lifeline for wildlife and people.
It isn't just the Mara, however, that is fed by the Mau Forest. Eleven other rivers also get their water from this critically important mountain habitat.
Countless animals and millions of people depend upon water that originates in the Mau Forest. The UN Environment Program has called the Mau Forest "the single most important watershed in the Rift Valley and western Kenya."
The rivers flowing from Mau Forest are very important for biodiversity and also feed three lakes in Kenya. One of them, Lake Victoria, is Africa's largest lake by area.
It supports a tremendous amount of wildlife and Africa's largest inland fishery. Lakes Nakuru and Natron are no less important.
Lake Nakuru National Park is Kenya's most-visited park and generates 15 per cent of all tourism dollars due largely to the huge populations of flamingoes that feed there.
What does all this have to do with tree planting? It is very relevant. Due to various human activities, the size of the Mau Forest has been reduced by about a quarter.
This loss of trees and natural habitat could prove disastrous, because when there are fewer trees, there's less rain, and therefore less water drains into rivers and lakes feeding all the animals and people who have no other supply.
Already some of Mau's rivers have shifted from perennial to seasonal status due to decreased rainfall. The recent severe doubt is believed related to deforestation in the Mau Forest.
Additionally, tropical soils are vulnerable to erosion and nutrient depletion, which degrade the habitat even more, due to deforestation.
Planting trees is an excellent way to restore the Mau Forest to its full ecological health and capacity for supporting life.
Excerpts from article in the Africa Wildlife Foundation