Kenyan Scouts and leading tree planting organization Trees for the Future partner to plant 1 million trees in Homa Bay County in 2019. The Kenya Scouts Association (KSA) and Trees for the Future (TREES) signed a memorandum of understanding to plant one million trees, contributing to Homa Bay County’s goal under Kenya’s Vision 2030 platform, of 10% tree cover by 2030 – a 6.3% increase from the county’s existing 2.7% tree cover.
“It is important to remember that we have a chance to reverse our deforestation course and improve our standards of living, I believe that through this partnership we will achieve our goal,” said Homa Bay County Scouts Commissioner, Elly Kisulu.
TREES provides agroforestry training and resources to smallholder farmers in Kenya to improve crop yields and combat deforestation. TREES’ Forest Garden Approach is a strategic agroforestry technique that emphasizes the need for trees and biodiversity in agriculture and can be adopted by farmers across the region.
“We plant trees not for ourselves, but for the future generations,” said TREES’ Kenya Country Coordinator, Michael Muthui at the partnership launch ceremony. “Our partnership with KSA will help us leave the world a better place than we found it.”
KSA will work with schools to identify land and water sources for nurseries and local TREES staff will coordinate training and supply seed and nursery equipment. KSA sub-county leadership, trained in agroforestry, will work with local scouts to develop nurseries and outplant trees in areas designated by the county. KSA will use TREES’ Forest Garden Training Center app to record each tree planted.
The launch ceremony was attended by 3,000 scouts from six counties, KSA and TREES representatives, the County Minister for Water, Environment and Natural Resources, Kenya Wildlife Service, National Environment Management Authority, Forest Institutions and the Ministry of Education.