The United Nations has expressed confidence in Kenya’s restoration efforts pledging to provide the required technical expertise.
The 75th session UN Assembly President Volkan Bozkir made the pledge on Tuesday at the Karura Forest during an interactive session with stakeholders.
“UN must partner with governments and agencies,” he said.
The president said there is a reason why the UN was in the country.
Environment CS Keriako Tobiko, Kenya Forest Service Chief Conservator Julius Kamau and KFS Board Chair Peter Kinyua were present.
Bozkir noted that a lot has been done by the government to restore degraded forests.
He said the role played by forests ecosystems cannot be gainsaid.
“We have a duty to protect the environment. We are facing a very difficult period with the Covid-19 pandemic. With the hidden pandemic, we must be innovative and use current tools to address the 21st-century problems,” he said.
The current forest cover is 7.2 per cent and the state wants it increased to 10 per cent by 2022.
This means two billion trees will be planted at a cost of Sh48 billion.
Bozkir said the recent biodiversity summit had shown a lot on interest in matters environment.
He said UN was committed to addressing some of the challenges facing the planet such as biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.
Bozkir said he will leave Kenya with a lot of messages particularly those touching on conservation of natural resources and the benefits communities were reaping from taking part.
He pledged to make resolutions being generated from UN assembly simple so that people are not lost
The UN Assembly president warned that the continued destruction of natural resources will see the rise in zoonotic diseases.
Tobiko said the environment does not respect boundaries or territories.
“Destruction in any part of the world affects everyone,” Tobiko said.
Tobiko said no single can address challenges facing the world adding that there is need for collaborative efforts.
“Environment affects communities, it affects the most vulnerable such as women, children, and persons living with disabilities the most,” he said.
Tobiko said communities are the best protectors of the environment.
The CS heaped praises on the late Wangari Maathia for sacrifices she made to protect natural resources in the country against wanton destruction.
Kinyua said forest management policies and strategies have been re-engineered to promote sustainable forest management.
“These include adoption of modern technologies and automation of processes in forest management,’ he said.
Kinyua said KFS has created platforms for partners and stakeholders to participate in tree planting and forest protection.
Green jobs are being created and nature based enterprises supported to provide alternative livelihoods for forest dependent communities to reduce pressure on forests, Kinyua said.
Kinyua said KFS has collaborated with UNEP to implement Kenya urban greening program under the broader Kenya greening initiative.
Kamau said forest in the country contributes 3.6 per cent to GDP.
The CCF said they however face challenges such as change in land use, population pressure, and impacts of climate change, degradation, and deforestation, inadequate finance, over dependence, among others.
Kamau said innovative approaches such as adopt a forest, engaging the youth, mainstreaming human rights based approaches have been adopted by the service.
