More than 3,200 trees were yesterday planted at Lenana Block in Ngong Road Forest Station.
The trees were planted in a partnership between the Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Wildlife and the Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association (KENSJA).
KENSJA was founded in February 2007 in Nairobi by a group of journalists.
The body was founded to provide a platform for journalists covering the environment and science to share and talk about their professional development.
Kenya Forest Service Chief Conservator of Forests Julius Kamau said trees support all aspects of life from being the most important source of energy for the vast majority of the population to supporting key economic sectors of agriculture, energy, manufacturing and tourism.
"As a Service, we have come to appreciate the important role the media plays in advancing forest conservation in this country by informing the public of the perils of forest degradation as well as the benefits of sustainable forest management," he said.
Kamau said issues touching on climate change and carbon emissions from forest degradation are technical and there is a need for reporters to break down the information for the general public.
He said there are so many opportunities for collaboration between the government and the media.
"One of them is the government’s determination to attain 10 per cent of forest cover by 2022 as directed by the President. To achieve this target, the Service led by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry is implementing a strategy that employs a multi-sector approach in pooling resources and technical capacity towards attaining this goal. The media is certainly one of these stakeholders," he said.
Kamau said KFS is willing and ready to partner with the media to make the event an annual and national media tree planting day.
KENSJA chairman Duncan Mboya said journalists have extensively covered issues on forest cover, climate change and conservation of biodiversity.
