- Bore urged Kenyans to remove eucalyptus trees along the river banks, which draw a lot of water and lower water levels and replace them with the indigenous and exotic.
- She made the remarks when she led a tree planting exercise at Chepalungu forest in Siongiroi of Bomet County on Monday.
Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore has challenged Kenyans to plant indigenous trees that are environmentally friendly in a bid to achieve 15 billion trees by 2032.
Bore urged Kenyans to remove eucalyptus trees along the river banks, which draw a lot of water and lower water levels and replace them with the indigenous and exotic.
She made the remarks when she led a tree planting exercise at Chepalungu forest in Siongiroi of Bomet County on Monday.
In attendance were Bomet governor Hillary Barchok, nominated senator Joyce Korir, Chepalungu MP Victor Koech and former KANU Secretary General Nick Salat.
Others are former Bomet senator Wilfred Lesan and former Bomet women representative Cecilia Ngetich.
Bomet County will have planted 250,000 trees by the end of this week.
She called on the political, opinion leaders and administrators to ensure that they use every opportunity to tell the people not to plant eucalyptus trees in water sources as this species was known to deplete the ecosystem of the wetlands.
The CS urged Kenyans to support the government's move on tree planting so that they could achieve the target they had already set in the next 10 years.
"When the head of state decided to dedicate this day for tree planting, there is something which the president saw concerning environmental matters and we must support him,” she said.
Bore also noted that to avoid problems related to the environment, there is a need to practice tree planting exercises every time without being forced.
"We need to practice planting trees even without being told by the government or leaders. We need to embrace the culture of planting trees in forests alone but also in our homes," said Bore.
The Ministry boss told the locals to protect the newly planted trees from harsh elements so that they help achieve the forest cover.
She challenged Kenyans to ensure that they plant five trees once they cut down a tree so as to maintain the forest cover.
In his part, Barchok said that the local county government has set aside funds in the budget towards the preservation of the environment and its administration is committed to ensuring that the locals plant trees.
He said that talks are in place to introduce eco-tourism to the Chepalungu forest so that locals can also benefit from benefits accruing from Tourism.
"This can be achieved if we continue to conserve this forest so that it can benefit the locals and improve the living standards of the people living here," said the county boss
Korir called on Kenyans to take advantage of the current rains to plant trees.
"The rain helps to keep the soil moist which is essential for root establishment and growth of trees. The trees planted in rainy seasons also require less watering thus making them easier to maintain,” said Korir.
Koech said that he has allocated two per cent of the constituency development fund towards the conservation of the environment.
He said the tree planting programme will involve the youths so that they can play a big role in ensuring the trees planted are protected.
Salat advised the residents of Bomet County to take advantage of Chepalungu Forest because they were poised to benefit from its carbon credit.
"Carbon credits have many benefits for the environment, countries, and businesses. Selling carbon credits the environment and removes carbon from the atmosphere by planting trees, or avoiding emissions from other sources, like switching to clean energy," said Salat.