Gatundu North sub-county environment officer Janet Wambui has urged residents to embrace a tree planting culture when El~Nino rains come since the survival of the sub-county depended on environmental conservation.
Wambui who was speaking from Kamwangi in Gatundu North Sub-County on Wednesday asked the residents to conserve the forest cover and plant more trees in their homesteads in a bid to protect water sources.
“If water sources were interfered with, rivers will dry up and people would lack water for domestic and agriculture uses,” she said.
The officer said appropriate measures would be put in place to ensure that the business of illegal charcoal burning would come to an end.
“The forest cover in this region is 16.66% which has drastically reduced due to charcoal burning and encroachment of forests and reserved areas,” she added.
She grieved the reduction in percentage of forest cover attributing it to human activities such as charcoal burning and expansion of land for agriculture. She assured residents that any encroached land meant for forest service would be reclaimed
Wambui said that Kamwangi tree farm, whose 24 hectares had been cleared to accommodate three thousand trees, would be protected from damage citing legal action on forest destroyers.
The officer castigated charcoal burning mentioning it as a booming illegal business in the area. She had gone at the farm to launch three thousand tree planting campaign which was done in a day.