Daniel "Churchill" Ndambuki aka Mwalimu King'ang'i has challenged Kenyans who are celebrating their birthdays to invite him for tree planting exercises.
King’ang’i who will be turning 45 this year has started a tree planting challenge, under the Tujaze miti initiative as part of the efforts to accelerate Kenya’s 30 percent forest cover target.
“I turn 45 years this year so I plan to plant 45 trees. Infact why can’t we make it a challenge, if you have a birthday I get seedlings from Kenya Forestry Research Institute or Kenya forest services I come we plant trees of your age,” he said on Thursday.
“That is a deal that will leave a landmark forever so tupande miti, tujaze miti, how about that?” he paused.
This comes after President William Ruto led the nation in a tree-planting initiative aimed at increasing Kenya’s cover, to combat the impacts of climate change.
The launch of the initiative in Ngong Hill Forest, Kajiado county last week coincided with Ruto’s 56th birthday.
Seemingly 56 trees were planted to commemorate his birthday.
Results generated from the recent National Forest Resources Assessment 2021 indicate that Kenya has 17,742,168.02 acres of tree cover, representing 12.13 percent of the total area.
From the assessment, up to 37 counties out of the 47 (79 percent) have a tree cover percentage greater than the constitutional set target of 10 percent tree cover.
The state however wants the national tree cover enhanced to 30 percent by 2032, a move that will see 15 billion trees planted.
To achieve this feat, some Sh500 billion is needed.
The move seeks to restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded landscape for improved biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
