The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Soipan Tuya has commended Kenyans for heeding the government call to plant trees in efforts to achieve the set target of 15 billion trees by 2032.
In a statement on Tuesday, Tuya said Kenyans displayed immense patriotism during the National Tree Planting Day held on Monday which saw the government surpass the 150 million trees target.
“Countrywide returns we continue to receive indicate that we surpassed the 150 million target for the day, with ‘Jaza Miti’ App indicating close to 7,000 new entries. We encourage those that grew trees yesterday but didn’t record on the app, to do so, to enable us keep track of the activity,” said Tuya.
The CS urged Kenyans to continue planting and growing trees during the ongoing short rains season, during which the government aims to reach a target of 500 million seedlings by Christmas.
To monbitor all planted trees, the government plans to utilize the ‘Jaza Miti’ app which is available on Google Play Store and iphone Operating System (IOS).
The app facilitates tree planting programs by allowing users to select suitable tree species for planting based on their location and monitor the growth of documented trees over time.
Kenya Forest Services (KFS) officers will also rely on the app to keep track of all trees planted across the country.
BY PRUDENCE WANZA