PS Omollo urges Homa Bay residents to boost tree cover as county records 10.4pc

HOMA BAY, Kenya, Oct 10 – Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has called on Homa Bay residents to intensify tree planting and protect existing forests as the government steps up efforts to achieve its national target of 15 billion trees by 2032.

Speaking at Lambwe Forest during Masingira Day celebrations, Omollo said Homa Bay had planted 25 million seedlings since 2022 but needed to strengthen conservation efforts to improve its tree and forest cover.

He said the county’s tree cover stood at 10.4 per cent, while forest cover was estimated at 3.18 per cent, figures he said highlighted the need for sustained environmental restoration.

“Homa Bay County has managed to plant 25 million seedlings since 2022,” Omollo said, urging residents to ensure planted trees survive to maturity.

The PS said the county had a tree-growing target covering 100,000 hectares and needed to plant 14.9 million seedlings annually to accelerate progress.

He called on community leaders, forest associations, county officials and residents to take responsibility for protecting forests against degradation and encroachment.

Omollo said environmental restoration required more than planting seedlings, stressing that communities had a critical role in nurturing trees and safeguarding existing forest resources.

“The community members through the forest associations have a big responsibility as the single most important stakeholders in ensuring that as we plant the trees, we make sure that those trees actually grow to maturity,” he said.

He said the government’s nationwide environmental campaign was designed to mobilise communities and public institutions to participate in tree growing and environmental conservation.

The exercise coincided with a coordinated nationwide cleanup across all 47 counties and a synchronised presidential tree-growing challenge covering 79 sites.

Omollo said village elders had planted 7.7 million trees across more than 77,000 villages, with the Ministry of Environment and the Kenya Forest Service providing technical support.

National government administration officers, chiefs, village elders and county governments were also coordinating community participation in cleanup and tree-planting activities.

According to the PS, approximately 2.2 billion trees had been planted nationally as of October 5, against the government’s target of 15 billion trees by 2032.

Homa Bay, one of six counties under the Nyanza Forest Conservancy, requires stronger collaboration between government agencies and local communities to accelerate environmental restoration.

During the Lambwe Forest celebrations, participants planted nearly 6,000 trees against a target of 10,000 for the day.

Omollo said the onset of the short rains offered an opportunity to scale up tree planting, urging residents to plant indigenous and fruit trees in homes, schools, churches and other public facilities.

The PS also urged Homa Bay residents to prepare for the October-to-December rainy season, warning that enhanced rainfall could trigger heavy downpours across the Lake Victoria Basin.

He said Homa Bay was among the counties expected to experience enhanced El Niño rains and called on residents to cooperate with government agencies to minimise damage and loss of life.

Omollo particularly cautioned parents, teachers and national examination officials against exposing candidates to flooded roads and dangerous river crossings during the examination period.

“We need to work with our teachers, we need to work with our parents so that we don’t have students losing their lives because they have to cross roads that are flooded,” he said.

He urged examination officials to make appropriate arrangements where adverse weather threatened learners’ safety, while ensuring candidates were not prevented from sitting their examinations.