2 weeks Ago By KNA6
The national government in collaboration with other stakeholders is determined to restore the Maragoli hills forest by undertaking reafforestation efforts. Speaking on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary for environment, natural resources and forestry, the Secretary of Administration Mark Elung’ata said the government is encouraging the locals to protect the forests. Elung’ata challenged the surrounding communities to liaise with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND) to create nature trails in the hilly forest so as to attract tourists for generating revenue.
The western Regional Forest Conservator (RFC) Dennis Kerengo said the NETFUND in conjunction with the locals have been planting the seedlings, which consist of six species of fruit and indigenous species, in an activity that ended today. He stated that despite the fact that Vihiga county is leading in forest cover in the region at 35 per cent, the objective is to be planting 2 million trees annually so as to strike 14 million in 7 years to contribute to the national target of 15 billion by the year 2032. The RFC appealed to the people to be part and parcel of the drive to rehabilitate the forest ecosystem to its past glory.
The Acting County Commissioner (CC) Florence Sitawa, lauded the masses for collaborating with the government officers to safeguard the forest. She promised that in the future, the forest conservation exercises will run concurrently with mobile public services provision such as national identity card application and Social Health Authority (SHA) registration, among others..
