The Ministry of Environment will today launch a tree planting exercise across Kisii County that is expected to be carried out in at least four sub-counties.
Speaking on Wednesday, department of forestry director Wilter Okemwa said the exercise will be spearheaded by her department in conjunction with institutions within the region.
She said the move was occasioned by high rate of deforestation in the region following rampant cutting down of trees by residents despite constant warnings from the ministry.
“The planting exercise will kick off tomorrow (today) in four sub-counties and we will be assisted by institutions of learning. We have already secured more than 20,000 seedlings for the initiative,” she said.
“About 50 institutions have confirmed their participation and this is great move to us. It is very important that the planting exercise will help us deal with the issues of deforestation,” she said.
According to her, planting will only take place in public land as a means of safeguarding the interest of the government of keeping the country green and tidy.
“We will only focus on public land. This will help us have a chance of coordinating anti-cutting campaigns since they would have seen the beauty scenario created by the presence of trees,” she said.
Mrs Okemwa asked the government to crack a whip on errant timber merchants who have apparently deforested many areas in Gusii region.
Kisii Central, Nyamache, Masaba South and Gucha South are some of the counties set to benefit from the exercise.